Cecelia Ahern: I discovered why older women felt invisible — the advertisers weren’t interested
“We want nothing more than to be back in 2022 with another amazing catwalk show and face-to-face experience. And that is our plan so stay close.” So said Sonya Lennon as ieStyle Live From The Couch 2021 got underway on our screens tonight.
Lennon was hosting the event for the third year in a row and welcomed hundreds of viewers to the virtual show as she spoke with fashion editor Annmarie O’Connor, skincare expert Dr Clodagh O’Shea, and bestselling author Cecelia Ahern, while drinks columnist Leslie Williams gave a tutorial on making the perfect French 75 cocktail.
Ahern, who has sold 25 million books worldwide, spoke about her drive to ensure older women are represented through her work after a conversation with a casting agent in LA opened her eyes.
“The particular conversation we had, she was telling me about demographics, she stopped at women at 54. I said, ‘well what about women who are over 54?’ And she said, ‘Oh no, there's no demographic for them.’ I thought that was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard,” Ahern said.
“Then I thought well, not only do women report feeling invisible as they get older, and things have changed so much now because this was over 10 years ago, we never really saw older women on TV, or they were there but they weren't the central character and the story was never about them. I was hearing the reasons why — because the advertisers weren’t interested. They couldn't get money out of older women buying things (which I don't believe either).”
Ahern was inspired to write , her collection of 30 stories that focus on all the ways in which women feel the need to roar in their lives. The book has struck a chord and was picked up for television in a deal with streaming service Apple TV+ and will star Nicole Kidman, Cynthia Erivo, Merritt Wever and Alison Brie.
Dr Clodagh O’Shea, an aesthetic medicine specialist at the Beacon Face & Dermatology with clinics in Dublin and Cork, discussed medicosmetic treatments and shared her top tips for glowing skin for all ages, focusing on the five must-have ingredients needed for a pro-ageing skincare routine.
“Ensuring that you have a vitamin C serum, an SPF, a retinoid, an exfoliant, and a hydrating serum in your routine is a wonderful start,” she told Lennon.
fashion editor Annmarie O’Connor spoke about finding fashion for a new way of working and how working from home will have a long-lasting effect on our workwear.
“The new dress code is basically a softer, less restrictive iteration of what we knew to be classical officewear,” O’Connor noted. “It’s a reflection of our new flexible lifestyles. A lot of us are going back to the office and many of us have returned to the office. 'Hybrid' is the key word.”
Vickie Maye, features editor at the , closed the event and promised a return to the catwalk for ieStyle Live in 2022.
“We know you all loved our ieStyle event at City Hall in 2019, we promise we will be back next year with another of Annemarie’s fabulous catwalk shows and with Brendan [Courtney] and Sonya as our hosts again. See you next year,” she said.
