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Let’s face it (pun intended!) – a runway model’s primary objective is to show off the clothing of the designer, so why should it matter so much what’s above the neck?

 

Marimekko and Norisol Ferrari obviously feel the same way, which is why they hired Carmen Dell’Orefice to strut their wares yesterday at New York Fashion Week. Carmen is 81 years old.

 

But do not let that number fool you. This isn’t your average octogenarian. This is a stunning, statuesque woman-of-a-very-certain-age that has more class and grace in her (possibly arthritic) little finger than people one-quarter her age can hope to achieve. Call it aging gracefully, call it experience… the fact of the matter is, Carmen has been doing it since before my mom was born, and there’s no reason in the world why she, and many others, can’t continue.

 

Back in July at Comic-Con, before cameras starting rolling, former “America’s Top Model” winner Adrianne Curry lamented the fact that she would be turning 30 in just a couple weeks, and how that meant the final nail in the coffin of her modeling career. Anyone who has seen Adrianne Curry lately can attest to the fact that she can MORE than hold her own against any model 10 years her junior. I can personally confirm that she’s just as flawless in person as in print. But she’s been led to believe that, now that she’s reached a certain chronological age, there is no place for her in the fashion world. I say, RUBBISH!

 

And Carmen would say so too. I hope her appearance on the catwalk for NYFW will send a message loud and clear to designers everywhere that if a woman’s got it, it should not matter what it says on her birth certificate. As long as she can walk, put on a dress, and make it look fabulous, then let her WERK!

 

 

- Katie Marzullo, YH Staff Editor

katie@younghollywood.com