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Grace Ghanem modelling for Rotate.
camera Grace Ghanem modelling for Rotate. Photograph: James Cochrane
OLDER MODELS HAVE LONG BEEN A CATWALK NOVELTY – BUT CHANGE MAY BE AFOOT
In Paris, The Row put older women front and centre of its show – is this simply a runway stunt or a sign of desperately needed
change? Plus: your wardrobe dilemmas answered
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Chloe Mac Donnell Chloe Mac Donnell
Hello, it’s March which means we’ve officially reached the final stint of fashion month. Week five – yes it feels like 50 – takes
us to Paris.
So far we’ve seen runway stunts aplenty this season. There were pregnant models at London fashion week, models crowd surfing at
the Sunnei show in Milan and even a model on fire on the runway in Paris. But the most unexpected spot? A string of older models
at The Row show on Wednesday, also in Paris.
When it comes to fashion week casting, age is often under-discussed. You tend to get the odd cameo – remember Joan Didion at
Céline in 2015 and Betty Catroux at Saint Laurent in 2018? More recently, Grace Jones, 74 ,was unveiled as the new face (and legs)
of Wolford, while the 74-year-old model Maye Musk (mother to Elon) fronted an editorial in V magazine and the Instagram star Iris
Apfel landed her first beauty campaign aged 101.
Mature models might be good enough for covers and campaigns but not, it seems, for the catwalk. You might be surprised to learn
just how old some models actually are. In 2019, the median age on the runway was 23, up from 21 in 2014.
Some models at The Row show were in their 40s and 50s, including the 45-year-old Polish model Małgosia Bela. Older than the
median, yes, but certainly not old.
At the big fashion weeks, including New York and Milan, there is often a focus, however flawed, on body diversity and racial
diversity, but rarely on age diversity. Mature models are still the novelty rather than the norm.
This wasn’t the case at Copenhagen fashion week, now considered the fifth fashion week. There, the runways were peppered with
models spanning every age bracket including septuagenarians and octogenarians.
Grace Jones modelling for Walford
camera Grace Jones modelling for Walford Photograph: Richard Phibbs
The most talked about casting was at the Danish brand Rotate, which booked the American reality TV star Lisa Rinna (who is 59) and
Grece Ghanem (58), a personal trainer turned fashion influencer, to walk alongside the twentysomethings.
The brand is headed up by influencers and stylists Jeanette Madsen and Thora Valdimarsdottir, who said in an interview backstage
that it has always been important for Rotate to celebrate all women: “Some women want to cover their shoulders, some want to cover
their arms or their tummies and some want to show [it all off] … Our goal is to please every woman, and that is body diversity.”
It’s compelling to watch an older woman wear clothing you’ve only seen on a younger body. Take Jennifer Coolidge, 61, at Sunday
night’s SAG awards. The black, long-sleeved Saint Laurent dress she wore looked completely different on her than it did on the
runway. Coolidge would be a lot more successful in shifting stock – but try telling that to a casting director.
The actor falls into a group whose spending power is dubbed “the grey pound”. In 2016, the private equity firm ECI reported that
the over-50s in the UK held more than three-quarters of the nation’s financial wealth. Yet these “grey pound” women continued to
be overlooked by the fashion industry. This type of invisibility is the subject of the new book Hags by Victoria Smith, who
questions why middle-aged women are often ignored and demonised. “The cliche of middled-aged womanhood is that it’s a time when we
‘become invisible’,” she writes. “Alas, superpower fans, this does not happen. We are still here, same as always; it’s just that
we are being ignored. Other people are actively choosing not to acknowledge or value us. This ignoring is often talked of as a
minor issue, perhaps even a perk of becoming decrepit (hey, at least we don’t get catcalled anymore!)”.
The fact that an aspirational brand such as The Row included multiple age groups in its fashion week show without fanfare makes it
even more obvious that it makes commercial, not just cultural, sense. The label, founded by former child actors Mary-Kate and
Ashley Olsen, is expensive – a cashmere coat retails for more than £11,000, a midi dress for more than £1,500 – but you can’t
knock its influence. Those oversized blazers and lug-sole boots you see all over the high street are a trickle down effect from
the design duo.
Maybe change is afoot. For his first campaign, Daniel Lee, the new chief creative officer of Burberry, cast the 86-year-old actor
Vanessa Redgrave. In an image that quickly went viral on social media, Redgrave is pictured grinning at the camera in front of
Trafalgar Square wearing a beige trench coat, a design signature of the British fashion house. Yet in February, Redgrave sat front
row at Lee’s debut show in London to watch a runway cast composed of models young enough to be her great-granddaughter.
THE MEASURE
What’s hot – and what’s most definitely not – this week
Cate Blanchett, ‘pasta water candles’ and tonal colours feature this week.
camera Cate Blanchett, ‘pasta water candles’ and tonal colours feature this week. Composite: The Guardian
Going up
Free carbs | In Paris, Céline’s creative director Hedi Slimane gave showgoers boxes of jellies and chocolates, while the Jacquemus
invite was buttered toast. Yum.
Eye-brators | Actor Lily James told Harper’s Bazaar that she keeps a T-bar-shaped sculpting bar from the facialist Jillian Dempsey
in her handbag. “Gemma Chan coined them eye-brators,” she said, noting that the vibrating tool “gets the blood flowing”.
Re-re-wearing | It was third time lucky for Cate Blanchett’s Armani Privé gown at the SAG awards. The Tár star wore the same dress
to the 2014 Golden Globes and to the 2018 Cannes film festival.
Going down
Stealth wealth | MaxMara are calling the act of dressing rich – ie tonal colours, no flashy logos – ‘The Camelocracy’.
Goop’s vagina candle | Brooklyn based perfumers DS & Durga has launched a “Pasta Water” candle with errr … top notes of saline
water.
Bath bombs | TikTokers are peeling oranges in the shower for a heightened sensory experience.
READS OF THE WEEK
Dilara Findikoglu attends a party hosted by Nothing and Dazed in 2022.
camera Dilara Findikoglu attends a party hosted by Nothing and Dazed in 2022. Photograph: David M Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images
for Dazed
Dilara Findikoglu (above) tells AnOther why she wants to “destroy modesty on the catwalk”.
Vogue meets Instagram’s favourite fashion critic, HauteLeMode.
The Hollywood Reporter uncovers the secret rules of the red carpet.
Dazed Digital finds out who Rick Owens would pick to play him in a movie of his life.
WHAT TO CLICK
Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri on bridging feminism and fashion: ‘The male gaze is seen as the perspective that matters’ Dior’s Maria
Grazia Chiuri on bridging feminism and fashion: ‘The male gaze is seen as the perspective that matters’ Dress sensitivity:
creating the Mennonite costumes for Women Talking Dress sensitivity: creating the Mennonite costumes for Women Talking How
slippers left the comfort of home to become a status symbol How slippers left the comfort of home to become a status symbol
Blandstanding is in as Milan fashion week embraces the practical Blandstanding is in as Milan fashion week embraces the practical
Crotch blowouts and bobbly knits: how to save secondhand clothes from smells, stains and other surprises Crotch blowouts and
bobbly knits: how to save secondhand clothes from smells, stains and other surprises Hot buttons: why fashion houses are getting
into video games Hot buttons: why fashion houses are getting into video games
STYLE CLINIC
Morwenna Ferrier, fashion and lifestyle editor, solves your wardrobe dilemmas
Saucony’s Grid Hurricane trainers.
camera Saucony’s Grid Hurricane trainers. Photograph: Saucony
Q: I gather Stan Smiths are no longer acceptable because Matt Hancock wears them. This seems fair enough, but can you recommend
some non-sport trainers for a 50-year-old woman? – Barbara
A: Assuming you’re a white trainer fan (I like black in winter and white in summer) you can’t go wrong with anything from New
Balance, Veja, Primury and Asics. Partly because the shapes are nice and trad – they’re chunky, and look like leather brogues
instead of some of the more prow-like shapes that have emerged over the years. The shape also works well with a 7/8-length trouser
or (heaven forbid) a floral midi. But I’d also like to recommend Saucony Grid Hurricanes in cream, which no one but me wears, and
Puma Easy Riders which might seem a bit young but are actually just very, very comfortable shoes. Which is the point of them,
isn’t it?
Got your own style question? Send it to
[email protected].
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