Black model greats like Iman, Naomi Campbell, and Tyra Banks and Tomiko Fraser Hines are still as stunning as ever, but in the modeling world being over the age of 25 be damning. Despite the outdated notion of being considered old over the age of 30, these models are not losing any work. The industry is finding their beauty, talent and age as a new marketable niche.
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It goes beyond just the fact that “Black Don’t Crack” or that people in general are living longer. These women earned our trust in the beauty world and are marketing queens that have been our favorites for years. One agency is not only banking on this notion but keeping older model giants working as a result. Iconic Focus Modeling Agency (/) hire models who are 30+ who have “contributed to the history of fashion through their tremendous talents, various styles, creative expressions and visionary explorations”.
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Jill Perlman, an industry veteran and partner of Iconic Focus Modeling Agency had this to say about the new trend:
“As a woman, when I look in catalogs or go to the cosmetics counter I can’t relate to a 19 year-old girl and wanting to buy the same products that she’s buying because that’s not who I am. So we thought, why not open a model agency and bring back all those girls whose faces we saw when we were in our 20’s, 30’s and teens. Women that we used to look up to. Women that you want to buy from because you trust them, and want to be a part of their world,” Perlman told Madame Noire.
Is it working? “Our girls are working,” she says. “There’s a whole market out there because we’re living longer and we’re not dressing like our grandmothers and wearing muu muus and taking out the garbage. We are very educated and worldly and we have so much to give, and money to spend. It’s the baby boomers from age 35-70 that are spending, not the 19 year-olds who are still being supported by their parents.”
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Rejoice, older women! This is awesome.
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