User blog comment:Thomasfan502/Season 8 Discussion Blog/@comment-31892545-20180427192704/@comment-31892545-20180428215550

The key demographic of the series has changed according to Rainbow’s site, and it’s being marketed to younger children from 5-10 yo. (that’s a 1:4 year drop from the last demo). For the show to continue, and if it stays in the age group it’s been in for the past few years, they’ll have to "youth-up" the clothes and looks (which they’ve being doing successfully with the last few Fairy Forms) to appeal to their target audience, despite the Winx’s actual ages. If the show ages with them again it’ll eventually run dry, so I can understand what they seem to be doing.

The Winx were portyrayed the oldest in S4: getting jobs, diverging from school into adult work/home life, etc., and S5 hit the reset button to increase the longevity of the series. We’ve been digressing ever since.