At Dries Van Noten, and to mark his 100th show, the designer had recast models who had walked for him before; three of his cast had appeared in his first catwalk outing, in 1993. Anyone who has taken an interest in models since the 1990s would have been excited to see the likes of Cecilia Chancellor (50) c (46) and Nadja Auermann (45) return to the catwalk. It gave editors the same thrill as a music critic might get from seeing their favourite rock band reform, especially given that they all totally "slayed" it.
In Paris at Isabel Marant, 43-year-old supermodel Amber Valetta also stole the show. In a grey suit and white shirt, she exuded a cool sophistication that comes with almost 30 years of practice (and age-proof bone structure).
A season for the ages, from 0-75 years
Image: Reuters
When 73-year-old Benedetta Barzini walked down the catwalk at Simone Rocha, at London Fashion Week, it felt like a refreshing change from the usual parade of baby-faced models one usually sees on the catwalk. But what started as an age anomaly soon snowballed into something much more radical. Call it an agequake? A triumph of experience over innocence? Either way, as the ready-to-wear-shows progressed the catwalks starred models in their thirties, forties, fifties and even seventies.
Image: Reuters
At Dries Van Noten, and to mark his 100th show, the designer had recast models who had walked for him before; three of his cast had appeared in his first catwalk outing, in 1993. Anyone who has taken an interest in models since the 1990s would have been excited to see the likes of Cecilia Chancellor (50) c (46) and Nadja Auermann (45) return to the catwalk. It gave editors the same thrill as a music critic might get from seeing their favourite rock band reform, especially given that they all totally "slayed" it.
In Paris at Isabel Marant, 43-year-old supermodel Amber Valetta also stole the show. In a grey suit and white shirt, she exuded a cool sophistication that comes with almost 30 years of practice (and age-proof bone structure).
Image: Getty
It wasn't a complete takeover by the baby boomers and generations X and Y. There were babes in arms (and in cat print) at Dolce & Gabbana, in their "non-model" show, while Hudson Kroenig, the eight-year-old son of Chanel veteran Brad Kroenig took to the catwalk with Karl Lagerfeld to launch the Chanel rocket into space.
There wasn't just a greater diversity of ages among the models, either. There was also a greater cross section of ethnic background, shape and religion. Halima Aden (19) appeared in three shows wearing her hijab. About time too.
Image: Getty
This article was originally published by the Financial Times.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2017.