How Old is Too Old for Trendy?

Christian Siriano launches his new beauty collaboration with Victoria Secret. It is a sweet little group, and sure to be picked up by many a PYT on a shopping bender.

Watching his video, I was struck by something I’ve heard for the second time in a month: marketing geared toward the 20-something.

When Christian mentioned the “young, trendy girl” could wear the blue eyeshadow OR the nude look, I had to cringe. After years of companies chasing after baby boomers, are they now tossing everyone aside for “youth”? Haven’t marketers spent the last 30 years convincing the world they are eternally youthful? That you can have a wrinkle and wear blue eyeshadow, too?

My second experience is around the relaunch of Gap jeans. A brand that is trying to reinvent itself is focusing on winning the 20 something market. Ok, I get the youth thing, but it seems puzzling Gap would not want to woo back the demographic that put it on the map. They’ll put 1969 as a historic point on the marketing materials, but they don’t want anything that old pushing their jeans?

Are 30 & 40 somethings merely the lost marketing generation? If you fall in this bracket, do you feel marketers do a decent job of addressing your needs?