The fashion industry has always lauded the fountain of youth as the premiere beauty standard. From featuring the youngest models possible to gearing advertisements toward teens and tweens, the world of beauty and fashion often forgets that women of all ages are beautiful.
Thankfully, Gucci recognizes that women in their 40s are just as lovely as those in their 20s. The proof is in their new Gucci Cruise 2023 collection that features 44-year-old Karen Elson as the face of the new campaign.
Beauty Doesn’t Fade After Your 20s
We’re thrilled to see Gen X women such as Elson set the record straight and tell the fashion industry that beauty doesn’t stop after your 20s.
In the ad campaign, Elson is captivating in a retro-inspired silk turtleneck and wool skirt set by Gucci. The diagonal striped ensemble is a play on textures and patterns that Elson brings to life effortlessly.
Seeing Elson as the face of the campaign is refreshing since young models are often the chosen ones in the fashion industry. However, the supermodel is no stranger to the limelight. In fact, Elson began her modeling career as a teenager and appeared on the cover of Italian Vogue on her 18th birthday.
Since beginning her modeling career, Elson has walked the runway for designers such as Marc Jacobs, Versace, Dior, and, of course, Gucci. She’s also a musician and the ex-wife of Jack White, with whom she shares a daughter, Scarlett Teresa White, 16, and a son Henry Lee White, 15.
Could The Tides Be Turning?
Although Elson began her career in her teens, the fashion industry is slowly waking up to the fact that beauty is ageless. In fact, Elson is one of many Gen Xers to continue her modeling career into her 40s. Charlize Theron, 47, continues to model for Dior and became the face of Dior’s J’adore Parfum d’eau perfume in the fall of 2022.
Other supermodels, such as Cindy Crawford, continue to model in their 50s and even later in life. Crawford, 56, is both surprised and grateful that she is able to model in midlife. In a recent interview, Crawford admitted that when she began modeling, “There was no way [she] thought [she] would still be quote-unquote ‘modeling’ to this day.”
As supermodels in their 40s and 50s reign supreme as the faces of well-known fashion brands, we hope to see more and more Gen X women featured in the fashion industry.