While advertising campaigns have become increasingly welcoming to women of all ages—due in no small part to the recent glossy turns by iconic femmes like Joan Didion for Céline and Joni Mitchell for Saint Laurent—when it comes to actual models, most campaigns still go to industry ingenues. So cue our delight upon finding that the Dutch designer Peet Dullaert has illustrated his ad campaigns for his recently launched accessories line, Le Sac Si, with models Linda Spierings and Cheyenne Keuben. The elegant black-and-white shots highlight women in their prime on both sides of the age spectrum: Spierings, a popular face in the late ’80s, worked with everyone from Richard Avedon to Bruce Weber, snagging multiple covers of Vogue in the process. Keuben, a relative newcomer, debuted on Simone Rocha’s Fall 2015 runway before landing one of Saint Laurent’s coveted exclusives. Separately, each woman is accomplished, but together they represent the best of both worlds—exactly the vibe Dullaert was going for. Describing his woman as someone with a “strong point of view, a mind-set of her own,” he sought to create an inclusive message of “pure personality.” On the eve of the campaign’s debut, we caught up with the designer and the campaign’s stars to talk beauty, representation, and why age shouldn’t matter.
Peet, why did you feel it was important to include women from two different generations in this campaign?
PEET DULLAERT: I feel that it is important to show personality and unlimited beauty, in pure form . . . Most important, I felt the need to present a very personal tribute story about the women who inspire and teach me, currently and over time. This core focus resonates throughout my work.
Linda, how do you feel the modeling industry has shifted in the past few decades?
LINDA SPIERINGS: I started modeling at the beginning of the ’80s, so yes, you can imagine things have changed quite a bit. We worked as models and that was it. Maybe it was more easygoing and less glamorous. Nowadays modeling is more time-consuming and, in that way, life-consuming. It seems like your social media accounts matter equally as much as your portfolio. The fashion industry nowadays appears to be more and more about marketing.
What was it like working together on these images?
CHEYENNE KEUBEN: It was amazing to be part of this campaign! I’ve worked with Peet before—his collections are lovely and so is he. It’s a huge honor to star in this campaign next to Linda—she is an icon!
LS: When Peet asked me for this campaign, I knew he would give me carte blanche in how to pose. It was not just the project itself, but also Peet that made me want to take it on! I believe it to be very important to support young talented designers with vision.
Do you feel modeling and fashion are beginning to embrace women over 40?
PD: Today this is not yet the case, but I sure hope it will. Observing the current developments within the industry, we can clearly see this positive shift happening. Since the foundation of my company, women of all ages have been part of our story. It is my general opinion that no woman should feel excluded.
LS: Women over 35 luckily are represented much better over the years. I think diversity is becoming more important, and so it should. We have to celebrate women of all skin tones, sizes, ages, and, in fact, all genders. These things matter, so we have to speak up and inspire one another.
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