When I started going to fashion shows some 30 years ago, there were barely any celebrities on the catwalk, and very few models over 21, never mind 50. The idea of a grey-haired 52-year-old actress appearing in the Miu Miu show, as Olivia Coleman did last month, was even more outlandish than Paris Hilton walking in the 2BFree show holding a ferret (1995, since you ask).
If a then 14-year old Hilton made for uncomfortable viewing, seeing her aged 45 on the catwalk at Gucci’s Cruise show in New York earlier this year was a much more welcome sight. Nor was her casting an isolated incident: designer Athena Calderone, 49, was also in the show, while Cindy Crawford, 60, was given the (much-deserved) accolade of closing it. Better still, the Spring/Summer 2027 shows hinted that, while race and size diversity still have urgent need for improvement, age diversity might actually be taking hold as the new norm.
At the Dennis Basso show in New York, Christie Brinkley, 72, made a high-impact return, while Evelyn Effrim-Botchey, 58, made an equally dramatic one at London Fashion Week after a 30-year career break, walking for brands including Emilia Wickstead, Labrum and Natasha Zinko. In Milan, Gucci cast an all-ages assortment of faces including Spanish model Naty Abascal, 83, and Amanda Harlech, 67, while Olivia Colman’s turn at Miu Miu was one of the most talked-about of the season (her hilarious Graham Norton interview in which she detailed getting ‘lost’ on the catwalk illustrated exactly why older, relatable models have such appeal).
In fact Paris, a city not best known for diversity, had a far better turn out than usual, with Farida Khelfa, 66, modelling for Willy Chavaria, and Debra Shaw, 60, walking for Matieres Fecales. Chanel’s casting seemed particularly organic, with 50-year-old Stephanie Cavalli—a Matthieu Blazy favourite—returning, joined by Christina Chung, 60, and 90s runway regular Emma Balfour, 56.
As a woman in her 50s, it seems extraordinary to be writing about other women in their 50s being on a catwalk. It shouldn’t do, but here we are. That it’s worth mentioning at all is due to the fact that for decades, models’ careers were brutally short-lived. However big the name, she was often considered to have peaked by 25, after which time she’d be shuffled off for early retirement. Occasionally, a ‘tokenistic’ older model might be granted visibility on a catwalk, but never in a way that felt meaningful.
Whether on catwalks or in advertising campaigns, older women are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. According to McKinsey and Business of Fashion’s State of Fashion 2025 report, people aged 50 and over accounted for 38 per cent of global consumer spending in 2024 and were projected to drive 48 per cent of global spending growth in 2025. In short, the women fashion has traditionally shunned are the women with the greatest capacity to actually buy it.
We in our 60s, 70s and 80s have money to spend, and when we see women our age included, we shop.
Mouchette Bell, 63, model and former fashion editor
“It is a fact that mature women often have more money to spend and can afford luxury more readily,” agrees the luxury brand strategist Mimma Viglezio. “But I don’t think all models need to be older. Brands also need to appeal to Gen Z and young millennials, which means maintaining the youthful, cool allure that attracts them. It would be great to see more mature models cast alongside younger ones, making all customers feel relevant and appreciated.”
It helps that the idea that only young people could kickstart or drive trends is now outdated. Credit in no small part to Gen Z for their love of nostalgia, and their enthusiastic embrace of stylish older role models. As a parent, I love seeing the models I grew up with being appreciated by my daughters, who value their authenticity without being put off by their age. Amidst a sea of identikit teenage influencers in bralets, bare midriffs and 2XL sweats, no wonder models such as Kate Moss, 52 (the new face of Hunter) and Yasmin Le Bon, 60 (a brand ambassador for George at Asda) are proving so compelling. Other recent examples of established faces being rediscovered include Susie Cave, 59, as the face of Tom Ford, Claudia Schiffer, 56, at Chloé, and Armani’s dazzling carousel of images featuring Christy Turlington, 57, looking as beautiful now as she ever has.
“I think things have improved greatly for older women,” says Mouchette Bell, 63, a model and former magazine fashion editor. “Fashion is much more inclusive than before. I am very lucky to work for many brands—Burberry, M&S and The White Company, to name a few. In the 80s, when I first started modelling, the industry was not inclusive at all. But having worked on both sides of the camera, this inclusion is also a smart business choice. We in our 60s, 70s and 80s have money to spend, and when we see women our age included [in fashion advertising], we shop. Fashion is a business, after all.”
There is an important distinction between representation and tokenism though. A celebrated supermodel making a one-off appearance at 60 is not the same as routinely employing women in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. Nor should these women be confined to a particular aesthetic, given that the ageing process can’t possibly be defined by a single look. “I would still like to see more inclusion in fashion magazines—not just the famous older models, but women who look good, that happen to be older,” says Bell. “That’s still missing.”
Away from the runways themselves, one clear area for improvement is in marketing depictions of ‘older’ women. Fashion and beauty brands in particular seem to have the misplaced idea that appealing to anyone beyond 30 means showing them visuals of angelic, kind-eyed, white-haired women. It’s almost as though in our fourth decade we suddenly become full of calm, living life at a slower pace with a soft twinkle in our eye, smiling beatifically at children as they race around destroying our prize shrubbery. Do you know any women in their 30s and 40s who match that description? The women I know are vibrant, passionate (sometimes angrily so), lifting weights, banking cardio, dressing at least as coolly as the generation succeeding us, if not more so (remember, we’ve got the money to do it). They’re working and building and meeting up with their female support systems, reading voraciously and living lives in full colour, looking absolutely stunning—and totally unlike the adverts we see depicting us.
Now that these businesses seem finally to have accepted that we are the audience who will contribute most heavily to their bottom line, I hope they turn their attention to assimilating who this woman they are finally talking to really is, and reflect that in their campaigns and collaborations as well as on the catwalks.
While there’s still work to be done, at least fashion is finally beginning to understand that desirability shouldn’t come with an expiry date. Older women shouldn’t merely be the audience, but woven into the conversation. Long may our faces be seen and our voices heard.