Carmen Dell'Orefice was born before Fashion Week even
existed. The 81-year-old, who walked the runway for both Marimekko and
Norisol Ferrari at NYFW on Monday, is the oldest working supermodel in
the industry and proud of it.
"It's what I enjoy doing, and I'm able to do it," she told the
Today Show before stepping on to the runway in a mocha-colored floor-length gown.
Discovered at 13, while riding a New York City bus with her mom, she
landed the cover of Vogue only three years later. That was back in 1947,
when $7.50 an hour was the going rate for the gig.
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"It meant nothing to me," she recalls of seeing her first cover, "except that I thought I looked like a little boy."
The octogenarian beauty has long shed any hint of tomboyish-ness. Her
iconic white hair, which she's left dye-free for decades, has set the
highest bar for aging gracefully.
She's had a little help, according to Today show correspondent and
interviewer Jenna Bush Hager (yes that, Jenna). Dell'Orefice admits to
using fillers for "cracks in the ceiling," but it takes a lot more than
an injection to be one of the most in-demand models after 66 years in
the business. Her shoulders thrust back in triumph, projecting a
couture-worthy regality uncommon on the runway these days.
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It's the kind of peacocking pride only a veteran of the business can
pull off. It's also a throwback to the days before slump-shouldered
models, minimalism and Kate Moss made high fashion more bone-dry.
Vogue, Today ShowThat
may be why Dell'Orefice still works so much. When a designer or
advertiser wants to convey true luxury, they call Dell'Orefice. In
recent years, she's been the face of Rolex and Issac Mizrahi's Target
line, between runway shows for Heart Truth, Adrienne Vittadini and
Qasimi, among others.
"I think America may be growing up and accepting the fact that the bulk
of life exists beyond 50. Because demographically ... the vast
population is over 50," says Dell'Orefice.
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She's onto something: Older women with cash to spare have become a coveted demographic for
marketers of luxury products. As a result, fashion has started is taking cues from women once considered past their prime.
At 71,
supermodel Veruschka
stole the spotlight at Giles' runway show during London Fashion Week in
2010. That same year 45-year-old model Kristen McMenamy let her long
hair go totally gray, and nubile style commentators like
Tavi Gevinson and Kelly Osbourne followed suit (with the help of gray hair dye.)
Even
outside fashion's tiny bubble, women, not girls, have taken the reigns
of style. The most powerful cross-generational trendsetter in America
today is a 48-year-old mother of two. That would be Michelle Obama,
as if you couldn't guess.
Still in the world of modeling, youth is remains the beauty standard.
While models as young as teenagers still share the stage with the likes
of Dell'Orefice, there isn't much competition. She's already been the
teen model and done the 'it' girl thing. She's also posed for Salvador
Dali, married and divorced multiple times, had a child, quit modeling,
raked in millions, and lost it all to Ponzi con-man Bernie Madoff, her
ex-boyfriend's best friend. Dell'Orefice has personally intersected with
some of modern history's most famous and infamous cultural touchstones,
and she isn't slowing down at 81.
At a Fashion Week event on Friday she was photographed linking arms
with 28-year-old Olympian Ryan Lochte, looking every bit the model of
the moment.
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