In the not-so-distant past, Alex Bruni, a 66-year-old model, had an intriguing day posing for the renowned British photographer Rankin. Rankin, known for working with iconic figures like Kate Moss, Madonna, David Bowie, and the late Queen, had Bruni imagine herself experiencing an orgasm while submerged in a bath. Bruni found the experience delightful, as it was part of an advertisement for Coco de Mer sex toys. She appreciated the idea that older women could still embrace their playful and sexual nature.
Ever since Bruni was scouted in 2013, she has been in high demand as a model. She has graced the pages of Vogue Italia, worked with designers like Julien Macdonald and IA London, collaborated with GQ China and Starling Bank, and strutted down the runway. However, all of that changed when the pandemic hit. Bruni’s modeling career came to a screeching halt about 18 months ago when the world emerged from various lockdowns.
“It was great until 2017,” Bruni lamented. “Brands were truly embracing the beauty of aging and focusing on older women. But since Covid, it’s been bleak. I’ve only had a few jobs, and even those were either paid half of what they used to be or not paid at all. I felt compelled to take them for the sake of exposure.”
Bruni attributes this downturn to brands becoming more conservative following the pandemic. She believes that the whole notion of aging beautifully has lost its appeal. Instead of portraying older models as confident and vibrant, they are frequently depicted as eccentric, perpetuating ageist stereotypes.
Frustrated and disheartened, Bruni had hoped that older female models had finally gained recognition and acceptance. However, she now feels that progress has been reversed.
Rebecca Valentine, the founder of Grey Model Agency, shares Bruni’s sentiments. Since launching the only UK agency exclusively dedicated to models aged 35 and above in 2015, her models have been booked by prestigious international brands such as Gucci, Prada, and Emirates, as well as popular British labels like M&S. Like Bruni, Valentine believed that this trend would continue indefinitely. “Our models were in high demand for everything from luxury fashion to rock and roll styles, from high street brands to sports apparel,” she explained. “I never thought we’d go back to the 90s, where brands only wanted young, skinny, and tall female models. Unfortunately, that seems to be where we find ourselves in the last 18 months.”
Simon Chambers, owner of Storm Model Management, has also observed a decline in bookings for older female models who aren’t already well-known household names. “It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact reason,” he admitted. Chambers hypothesizes that, in times of economic challenges, brands may prefer to play it safe. “Selling fashion is never easy, especially when budgets are tight. Brands might consider using a model over 50 to be a greater risk.”
On the other hand, Miranda Cantacuzene-Speransky, agency director at Elite Model Management, points out that while demand for older male models remains strong, luxury brands have tapered their demand for older female models in the past few years. Cantacuzene-Speransky wonders if brands now prioritize models not only for their appearance but also for their social media following. She suggests that models with a substantial online presence can give brands an advertising boost at no extra cost. Older models, however, may not possess the innate knowledge of how to maximize their impact online.
Ira Iceberg, founder of the fashion house IA London, intentionally features older models in her shoots and runway shows. She has noticed a “dramatic decline” in other luxury brands embracing older models in the past year, not only in the UK but globally. Iceberg admits that this doesn’t surprise her. She believes that brands never truly felt comfortable using older female models, evident in how they treated these models, either covering them up completely or exposing too much skin. Older women were depicted as anomalies, not as normal individuals.
Despite the current setback, Iceberg remains optimistic about the future of older female models. She believes that real change will take time and that the next generation of fashion designers must be educated to be more inclusive and receptive to diverse ideas of beauty. The question shouldn’t be whether fashion will return to utilizing older models; instead, it should focus on why these selective practices were employed in the first place.
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