Many fashion brands, such as Saint Laurent, Celine and Gucci, have taken a more age-inclusive approach to their advertising campaigns in recent years, featuring older models in their 70s and 80s.

But while age-inclusivity has been embraced for consumer marketing, it should also be high on the agenda for fashion employers managing their workforces.

Age discrimination claims have generally been less common than claims based on other protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, such as sex, race or disability. However, the recent successful direct age discrimination claim brought by a 56 year old ex-knitwear designer for Superdry has shone the spotlight on this area of employment law.

We highlight the three key age discrimination risk areas below and offer tips to avoid the potential pitfalls.

• Recruitment

Whether you recruit staff through online advertising, social media, or print, the content and tone of recruitment language should be age-neutral, positive, and inclusive.

A business that targets the younger end of the fashion market may find this a tricky tightrope, but employers should be on the lookout for unconscious (or conscious) bias towards younger candidates.

Examples of direct age discrimination in recruitment, such as setting an upper age limit for job candidates or using overtly discriminatory language e.g. “youthful enthusiasm” are rare in practice. However, indirect discrimination can be harder to spot at first glance. This would be relevant if some...

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