Meet the 50-year-old supermodel who's changing the face of fashion

[Celerity]

When the model Stephanie Cavalli hit her thirties work dried up. Now aged 50, she’s back on the catwalk and is the toast of the fashion world

https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/fashion/article/stephanie-cavalli-interview-model-jcbtn02jg


Sequin top, £5,985, tweed skirt, £6,955, metal and resin earrings, £1,120, tweed jacket (on bench), POA, and small shopping bag, £6,960, Chanel ....................Clement Pascal FOR The Sunday Times STYLE

Once upon a time in the world of modelling, you were over the hill at 35. Yes, that was the age the industry officially deemed you “mature” (or worse, “classic”). For most, this is when much of the work — campaigns, catwalks etc — dries up. That was certainly the case for Stephanie Cavalli. “I never know how to put this without sounding crass, but I was too old to be young and too young to be old,” is how she describes it over Zoom, speaking from her garden in upstate New York. “I really felt my career was over. No one said this to me as such, but it was a struggle to get work after I’d had my youngest son. I did everything I could — I even tried Japanese hair straightening — but nothing worked.”


Cashmere jumper, £2,995, shirt, £2,080, jacket, £6,000, trousers, £4,690, slingbacks, £1,050, glasses, £510, check tie, £620, bag, £6,090, and sequin top (in dry-cleaning bag), £5,985, Chanel ................Clement Pascal FOR The Sunday Times STYLE

Yet now, at 50, Cavalli is more in demand than ever. After giving up modelling to concentrate on selling vintage clothes (more of which later), she returned, in her late forties, with a series of high-profile jobs — Miu Miu, Proenza Schouler, Phillip Lim — before landing the biggie: Chanel. Last December Cavalli walked for the house’s Métiers d’Art show, held in an abandoned New York subway station. The location was purposeful. Its intention was to convey “real” people in everyday Manhattan — and Cavalli’s outfit (slouchy leather jacket, mid-length skirt and manageable heels) nailed the idea of a powerful midlife woman, albeit one with an exceptional wardrobe. That wasn’t all: the following month Cavalli opened Chanel’s couture show, a significant moment since this was the couture debut for the house’s hot new designer, Matthieu Blazy. Then in March Cavalli did it again, opening Chanel’s autumn/winter 2026 catwalk collection.


Cashmere jumper, £2,390, tweed jacket, price on application, matching skirt, £6,780, boots, £1,820, sunglasses, £520, bag, £7,040, and earrings, £610, Chanel .................Clement Pascal FOR The Sunday Times STYLE

She still can’t get over how the career she thought was over is blooming once more. “It’s a huge, huge surprise,” she says. “I went for the fitting for what I was going to wear [for couture] with Matthieu and the team, and then suddenly there were a lot of people in the room. More than normal. Matthieu told me I’d be opening the show and it felt unbelievable. Then, when I opened prêt-à-porter, I could not believe it, doing it for the second time in a row.” It’s easy to see why Blazy finds Cavalli so appealing: as well as looking drop-dead gorgeous, she’s also relaxing company, with a huge smile and ready laugh. And then there’s the grey hair. “Half my work is thanks to this,” she says. During the pandemic she stopped dyeing it but was then booked for a job. “I felt compelled to colour it again — I did it myself and I hated it. It ended up looking like a block of colour.” Grey hair, on the other hand, “is an evolution of your hair. It’s what nature intended.”


Cashmere jumper, £2,210, jacket, £5,300, matching skirt, £2,780, shoes, £1,140, and bag, £6,610, Chanel .....................Clement Pascal FOR The Sunday Times STYLE

Cavalli is not the only “mature” model suddenly finding herself fighting off work. She was one of 15 models over 40 on the most recent Chanel catwalk. Tagwalk — the search engine dedicated to fashion — noted that of the top 20 brands, an astonishing 100 per cent included an older model in the most recent round of shows. “When I started modelling again at 45-46, I was already seeing more models about my age working,” she says, pointing out that it is financially savvy for fashion houses too: the majority of their customers are older, their sales are “in the hands of older women, so it makes sense for them to feel seen”. Cavalli grew up in Ostia, a little town outside Rome. Her Guadeloupean mother gave her a love of “nature, and everything that is natural”, while her Italian father passed on his passion for antiques. After school she was quickly scouted as a model, first moving to Milan and later, at 26, to New York. Her work back then was mainly what is known in the business as “commercial” as opposed to the more rarefied world of high fashion; it was, she explains, “a very different kind of job”.


Cashmere jumper, £3,480, tweed skirt, £3,390, matching jacket, £9,390, sunglasses (in hand), £720, gloves, £1,470, and large tote, £8,520, Chanel .....................Clement Pascal FOR The Sunday Times STYLE


Shirt, £3,080, coat, POA, skirt, £4,350, strass pumps, £3,040, shoulder bag, £6,960, shopping bag, £6,960, and glass earrings, £860, Chanel ....................Clement Pascal For The Sunday Times STYLE


Dog-print jacket, POA, skirt, £9,130, shoes, £1,130, bag, £4,870, and metal and resin necklace (on Joy, the dog), £3,470, Chanel .....................Clement Pascal FOR The Sunday Times STYLE


Cavalli on the Chanel catwalk in March ................Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty Images


Cashmere jumper, £2,390, tweed jacket, POA, skirt, £6,780, sunglasses, £520, bag, £6,690, and earrings, £610, Chanel .................Clement Pascal FOR The Sunday Times STYLE

[Skittles]

1. I think the outfits look ridiculous

but then, I was never into "fashion" fads

[Celerity]

2. I adore Chanel. To each their own. Also, Chanel is no 'fad', it's been around for 116 years. It's classic haute couture.

[Skittles]

3. the fads are "what's in fashion" from one season to the next

and btw, those prices are utterly ridiculous, too

[Celerity]

4. Chanel has a foundational core look/aesthetic for many of its pieces that transcends season-to-season trends.

As for the prices, it has never been meant for the mass-market, it is ultra-high end, extreme quality fashion that lasts for decades and decades if properly cared for (I myself have many vintage pieces). No one is forced to buy it.

Any comments on the actual subject of the post (the 50 year old model pushing through some of the industry's age barriers and practices)?

Olivia Rodrigo wore a vintage Chanel suit to meet President Biden (1995 S/S)

https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/feature/olivia-rodrigo-white-house-outfit-details-1234882614/

[North Shore Chicago]

5. She is stunning!

A "rebel" with a cause.