The Main MACRO trends - The Flat Age Society.

The Flat Age Society is another of today's current MACRO trends, that is a group of consumers who are over the age of fifty. They are a booming group, literally, as they were born in the 'Baby-Boomers' era. When they hit a certain age they are managing their personal style so that they do not age in the typical way. Which usually includes conforming to a certain way of dressing and styling yourself. This group want to accommodate their style to their age, but in the most on-trend ways possible!

It is often assumed that the older generation is not into technology, or simply do not have a clue how to work it. But this common conception could not be further from the truth. Technology is used by 70% of consumers in the USA age 50-65, as it has been discovered that they sign onto social networking sites at least once a day. Therefore, due to technology becoming an ever more popular hobby with the older generation, businesses are going to start facilitating to this group of consumers. This will be achieved by creating websites that will fit around their needs and what things would specifically interest them, as this is a growing market.

It has also been discovered that individuals over 50 take up a large amount of the Luxury brand consumer percentage; and specifically they account for 45% of the total Luxury spend, worldwide. As this group expands people are going to be looking for luxury travel experiences. As before there were specific holidays designed for the 'older generation', where they would feel comfortable and be able to relax as much as possible. But now we are seeing that this generation want to explore the world more, and experience excitement. I feel that this is down to the fact that they have worked hard for their money and have usually retired at this point in their lives. They then want to make the most of everything they have earned by creating the best memories for themselves. 

"GLOBE-TROTTING"

With regards to fashion older people are really coming into their own. Designers have realised that this is a huge market for them to attract and they really want to appeal to them. Designers like Lanvin for example have used a mature woman for one of their ad campaigns. Not only is this refreshing to see, instead of the usual young, skinny model. But this also really shows the Flat Age Society that they are seriously valued as consumers. Other designers to follow with this trend is Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's line, The Row. They feature mature models in their latest ad campaigns also, to attract the maximum age ranges. 

To conclude the Flat Age Society I wold say that they are just starting to be recognised and really taken seriously within all types of business sectors. This generation is now being celebrated as a 'cool' entity within trends and designers especially are seeing that their is a huge market for this generation. They are also now that different from the Millennials as their are unexpected parallels between the two. For example with regards to using technology there is not things like audio description and retina display screens. This is all seen to the newer generations as the most up to date software to have. Yet it is also very popular with the older generation because it makes things easier in terms of hearing and visual difficulties. Therefore business are getting their evolving designs correct and ensuring that their new concepts fit the description for all ages; ensuring that everyone feels equal.