INSPIRED CLASSICS FOR EVERY AGE

In the age of meticulous scrutiny and conversations around ageism, marketing to mature women without hurting anyone’s feelings can be a tricky business. That might be one of the many reasons retailers are hesitant to take the plunge.

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https://lesfemmes libres.com

“I’m 30, and started noticing that women a little bit older than me are being ignored by the fashion industry, except for maybe Chico’s, Eileen Fisher or Ann Taylor,” says Georgia Murray, the founder of Les Femmes Libres, a new San Francisco brand that caters to that age group. Murray’s solution? Calling the target audience “sophisticated, wise women” — and describing the potential customer, without going into numbers, as the modernday matriarch, the chairwoman and the creative.

Murray, who previously worked for Lululemon and Kit and Ace, started noticing the gap in the market while back at school studying merchandise product development at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco from 2016 to 2017..

“Designers are focused on who they are right now or in five years, and I was thinking: ‘Well, who will design for me in 15 years?’ ” she says. Les Femmes Libres launched in late 2018 with a crisp, classic button-up and has since expanded to seven items, all of which can be described as classic: a simple knit midi skirt, a soft T-shirt, a round-hemmed sweatshirt. The color palette is tame, ranging from cream and white to black and gray. Prices range from $78 for a organic cotton T-shirt to $295 for a tunic. The classics: Georgia Murray founded S.F. brand Les Femmes Libres in 2018 to cater to mature women. She started with a classic, crisp button-up, from top, and has expanded to a tunic and Little Black Pant.

The items, seemingly ubiquitous, are designed with the changing body in mind. “I’m thinking about who my client was 20 years ago, and how she didn’t change; her style didn’t change, but her life has changed and shifted,” Murray says. “Sure, you can find similar styles in other stores, but not the fit or the quality.”

The seven items available on the Les Femmes Libres website are made in San Francisco with an emphasis on comfort. The cropped black pants are equipped with an elastic band. The cotton tee doesn’t cling to the curves, but isn’t oversized, either. “We’re doing fittings on a 62-year-old woman,” Murray says. Accordingly, the women modeling on the website are 62 and 43.

Murray’s mother, Cynthia Ritz, is the brand’s most-loyal customer, who’s fallen for the shirt and went on to outfit her closet with additional items. “The white shirt is great. As a more mature woman, I don’t want a shirt that can be seen through. I don’t want a shirt that pulls over the chest,” Ritz says. For her, the brand’s minimalist approach is an advantage: “I don’t want the first thing others to think is ‘Wow, what an outfit.’ I want them to see me first. I think the brand’s clothing lets the woman shine and the clothes are the supporting actor.”

And yet, the Les Femmes Libres customer base isn’t limited to a certain age. “I love them for their really classic design, reminiscent of the Row and certain Japanese brands that I love,” says Hilly Charrington, 29, a customer in New York City. Having discovered Les Femmes Libres on Instagram, she appreciates the inclusive ethos: “I love that they show real women of different ages and background as their models. It’s incredibly inspiring.”

As the fashion industry expands the diversity of sizes and increasingly flirts with adaptive clothing, Murray hopes the mature category will grow as well. San Francisco is a good starting point: “Not being in the epicenter of the cities considered on the forefront of fashion affords me more space for creativity, flexibility and uniqueness of ideas and designs,” she says. “And as far as the brand’s values — timeless style, celebrating women as they move through life — this is a place where people actually recognize and live those ideals past the point of lip service.”

Flora Tsapovsky is an East Bay freelance writer. Instagram: @bicoastalista