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Naomi Campbell, 38
Naomi Campbell, 38
Older Cover Girls Showing Gray Is the New Black
July 15, 2008 07:59 AM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
“Sophisticated” fashion models well past their 20s are all the rage, as companies cater to baby boomers who want to see themselves reflected in ads.
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The more mature faces that will be featured in print ads this fall include Claudia Schiffer, 38, for Chanel and Ferragamo, Christy Turlington, 39, for Escada, and Naomi Campbell, 38, who recently replaced 34-year-old Kate Moss as the face of Yves Saint Laurent.
"The market for older models has exploded," said Ginni Conquest, co-director of the sophisticated women's division at Wilhelmina Models in New York, to the Los Angeles Times. "It's our fastest-growing area, and it's a first for the industry."
The trend, says the Times, is driven by baby boomers, who wield $2 trillion in spending power and make up about one-quarter of the population.
Lara Harris, who in her 40s has recently decided to go back into modeling, tells NPR that the new interest in older models "has to do with women in the workforce, and they have buying power, and they want to see themselves reflected in the ad campaigns and the catalogues and the magazines that they read."
It's not just the high-end designers that are looking to boost their wrinkle quotient. In September, retailer J. Crew plans to feature 58-year-old model Pia Gronning in its Web catalog. And earlier this summer, TV Land ran a reality series called "She's Got the Look" in which women over the age of 35 competed for a modeling contract.
Older models are nothing new to fans of Carmen Dell'Orefice, a runway veteran who at 76 is often called "the world's oldest working model."
"The market for older models has exploded," said Ginni Conquest, co-director of the sophisticated women's division at Wilhelmina Models in New York, to the Los Angeles Times. "It's our fastest-growing area, and it's a first for the industry."
The trend, says the Times, is driven by baby boomers, who wield $2 trillion in spending power and make up about one-quarter of the population.
Lara Harris, who in her 40s has recently decided to go back into modeling, tells NPR that the new interest in older models "has to do with women in the workforce, and they have buying power, and they want to see themselves reflected in the ad campaigns and the catalogues and the magazines that they read."
It's not just the high-end designers that are looking to boost their wrinkle quotient. In September, retailer J. Crew plans to feature 58-year-old model Pia Gronning in its Web catalog. And earlier this summer, TV Land ran a reality series called "She's Got the Look" in which women over the age of 35 competed for a modeling contract.
Older models are nothing new to fans of Carmen Dell'Orefice, a runway veteran who at 76 is often called "the world's oldest working model."
Headline Links: Older models back in demand
All Things Considered host Andrea Seabrook talks with Lara Harris, who worked as a model in the 1990s and had just completed graduate studies in psychotherapy when she was lured back into the fashion industry.
Source: NPR
The Los Angeles Times writes that “laugh lines became commodities" on the way to the model retirement home.
Source: Los Angeles Times
Key Players: Carmen Dell'Orefice; Naomi Campbell
76-year-old Carmen Dell'Orefice "has a stamina that would shame models a quarter of her age, along with a grace that belies an often turbulent life." The modeling legend first appeared on Vogue's cover at the age of 15 and has been working steadily in the industry ever since.
Source: The Daily Telegraph
Supermodel Naomi Campbell, 38, who in her teens was the first black model to appear on the covers of the French and British editions of Vogue magazine, says that what keeps her on the catwalk is the persistent dearth of black models in the industry. "I don't do so many shows anymore, but I do count how many girls of colour they use in the shows," she says.
Source: Reuters
Related Topic: 'Male Models Shrinking to Fit New Ideal'
While women in the fashion industry are getting older, male models may be getting skinnier. "Scrawn is the new brawn," reported Australia's the Age in June, about a newfound preference for skinny, pale and feminine men.
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: 'She's Got the Look'
An original reality TV series that first aired in June 2008, "She's Got the Look" featured women aged 35 and over competing to win a modeling contract with Wilhelmina Modeling Agency and a spread in Self magazine.
Source: TV Land
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