Vogue set to launch anti-age discrimination “Non-Issue-Issue”

One of the biggest fashion magazines in the world is readying itself to chicly raise a middle finger to those who think age is a barrier.

The next issue of British Vogue, which hits newsstands — quick detour: how many newsstands do you think still operate up and down the UK today? We reckon it must be under 500 and that’s an extremely optimistic estimate. Still, something to ponder on a dull evening, and there’s probably a book to be written about a quest to buy a paper from every newsstand in the land if you’ve got nothing on for the next 18 months — Friday 5 April is a Jane Fonda-featuring celebration of the creativity and talent of older women.

The “Non-Issue Issue”, as the Condé Nast publication are billing it, is co-presented by French cosmetics company L’Oréal Paris. In a statement penned by British Vogue’s beauty and lifestyle director Jessica Diner, we’re told:

“In 2019, women over 50 remain conspicuous by their absence in the beauty and fashion industries, as well as the wider media landscape. Age discrimination most definitely still exists, both consciously and unconsciously, leaving many women feeling excluded and invisible.”

And so, fitness fanatic Fonda joins the likes of Helen Mirren in an edition of the magazine that editor-in-chief Edward Enninful describes as proving that “a person’s age will always be a more intriguing, nuanced and inspiring factor than a simple number could ever suggest."