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fashion industry

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Trends come and go like the wind. To stay on top of what’s trendy in today’s world, you’ll need to be in the loop of the changes taking place in the fashion industry. The contemporary, fresh look lasts a few weeks before the next fashion statement becomes mainstream.

If you’re looking to never run out of style inspiration for your wardrobe, you’ll need reliable sources of world fashion.

Best places to get your next fashion inspiration

Here are ten places to go to if you’re seeking inspiration for your next look.

1. Pinterest

Pinterest offers a great way to browse through pictures of the newest fashion trends from around the world. You can pin your favorites to your board to review later on, or you could follow boards of popular fashion blogs that may contain something to inspire your outfits.

2. Vogue

The infamous fashion magazine is one of the front runners of world fashion. Their magazines provide you with instant insight into what the modern look is for any and every occasion.

You don’t need to subscribe to their magazine. Their website provides the most informative content related to all things fashion. You’ll find the newest trends as well as tips and tricks to set up your style.

3. Fashion Industry Events

Every year, the fashion industry organizes fashion weeks for every type of season, at iconic locations. These fashion weeks are where the world’s leading fashion designers and brands showcase their innovations and stylistic creations to the world media and buyers.

The new styles of clothing are exhibited on runways, where famous models showcase the new products. These runway events are streamed on the mainstream media too.

4. Lookbook.nu

Lookbook is a youth culture website that tailors to the needs of all things fashion. This is where content from models, designers, and photographers combine to let users curate their own outfit ideas.

5. Movies and TV Shows

While current showbiz content does inform you about what wardrobe directors for movie making companies think is currently trendy, movies from the older generations can also refresh your looks with a classic, throwback touch.

Instagram – Sources of style inspiration on Instagram

People seek most of their fashion inspiration from Instagram since it’s so accessible and convenient. Fashion blogs and influencers offer a multitude of perspectives to modern-day style. It is also a good idea to create and run your own fashion blog to share your style ideas with the world. You can garner a huge following using organic Instagram promotion services, such as https://www.simplygram.com/ to get you started.

Let’s take a look at the Instagram accounts you can get your style inspirations.

6. OOTD Magazine – @ootdmagazine

OOTD stands for ‘outfit of the day,’ which explains why this is one account you should be following. The page features many types of streetwear combinations that you could use to tune up your wardrobe.

7. American Style – @americanstyle

Think glamourous, think American! This account is perfect for viewing photos of elite streetwear ideas. It has a huge following too.

8. body_fitness_fashion – @body_fitness_fashion

For the people that workout and mostly dress in activewear, this page can give you some pretty innovative ideas to suit your lifestyle.

9. Lucy Williams – @lucywilliams02

A fashion, beauty, and travel blogger who puts the thrill and adventure in her aesthetic.

10. Eleanor Calder – @eleanorj92

If you’re seeking a more bougie aesthetic for your look, let Eleanor guide you with her drip montage.

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Most people picture models or fashion designers when they think of the fashion industry. While these are two of the most prominent career options in the fashion world, they are not the only ones. Just like any creative field, the word of fashion is highly competitive, with lots of different career paths fashion lovers can follow. Luckily for fashion lovers, getting into this industry does not have to be hard if you position yourself well. That said, getting to the very top will depend on your efforts. Below, we will look at some options you could consider if you love fashion and would like to work in the fashion industry.

Image source Pexels

Design Assistant

The fashion industry more or less runs on design assistants’ efforts. Design assistants work with fashion designers, and even though fashion designers come up with the creative vision of a show or brand, it is the design assistants who bring it all together. Design assistants are responsible for checking garments before fitting models. They also attend trade shows, coordinate schedules, track clothing samples, and manage studios.

Fashion Designers

Fashion designers are the creative engine of the fashion world. They come up with the designs for new clothing styles or brands. Depending on the companies that hire them, these designers can work in any specialization, including childrenswear, adult fashion, or sportswear. If this is a career option you long for, you can start by being a freelance fashion designer. Here, you can come up with designs and tailor them so that fashion houses and retailers can see them. A pro tip here is to always check any designs using a dress form. These are available for personal or business use. These dress forms let you see the garments on a body and allow you to make the necessary alterations before showcasing your creations in front of other people.

Image source Pixabay

Buyers

Buyers are the people responsible for bringing the greatest and latest designs to retail shelves and racks. Their job is to ensure the stores are always stocked with products that people want to buy. In some cases, they might have to dig deep to get clothes that people would love but do not know they want yet.

To become a fashion buyer, you need to have a solid understanding of how retail works. You also need to be able to take pressure and stress well because the success of a store will often be up to you. This career path is for people who can predict what customers will want in the future, which makes it very challenging.

Fashion Journalist or Writer

Fashion journalists and writers are responsible for covering the fashion industry. For you to be successful here, you must love fashion and have a hunger to learn everything you can about fashion. You must also have great writing and oratory skills if you want to be hired by a fashion powerhouse. Lastly, you should have a likable personality because you will meet a lot of people, and if you do not have this type of personality, they might never want to work with you again.

Fashion Publicist

Fashion publicists are responsible for maintaining a positive image of a brand or business. Their primary job is to build relationships with people who can help them help their clients stay in people’s minds and be viewed positively. Because of that last point, fashion publicists can sometimes take on public relations or crisis management roles.

Publicists are also responsible for ensuring their clients, companies or businesses get a lot of publicity for as little as possible. For this, they might have to convince a celebrity to wear a certain dress or carry a certain handbag.

If you are a fashion lover and want to get into the fashion industry, there are lots of career options available to you. You have an added advantage if you have an eye for design, a likable personality, and can work with different types of people.

Fashion is such a lucrative industry to enter in. After all, there will always be people who are obsessed with major labels and lots of designer goods. At a very basic level, people will always need clothes to wear. If you have a really strong passion for fashion, it’s a great idea to parlay this into a business. Unfortunately, there are many people who don’t believe that a person can find success within the fashion world. It’s actually not as competitive as you think. You just have to be intentional about finding your specific niche within the fashion world. There are plenty of options to consider. 

Vendor Sales 

There are tons of vendors who sell their merchandise to different boutiques at a range of prices. In this case, you can set up an e-commerce store. You’ll want to make sure there’s a feature that handles the transactions. Consider installing a big commerce enterprise system or one that’s similar. Purchase large quantities of specific items from that vendor, and sell the items on your website. To make the items pop, it’s a great idea to hire models and host photo shoots where they are modeling the clothes in front of a backdrop. There are plenty of successful businesswomen who have served as their own model before they were able to hire someone else. It’s okay to be resourceful in the way you showcase the items. Then, you’ll want to aggressively promote the pieces on social media. Find different influencers who can model your pieces and get them in front of larger audiences. As you’re consistent with this effort, you can build a strong brand in fashion from your home. 

Social Media Influencing 

If you’d prefer to be the one in front of the camera, social media influencing is a great option to consider. If you can collaborate with a great photographer, this is a great option to choose. It’s also great to make sure you have a clear sense of fashion and your own personal style. When you’re first starting out as a social media influencer, you’ll have to build your audience. It’ll take time before the large brands approach you about doing campaigns or sponsored posts for them. This is why it’s important to invest in the beginning. Find ways to build a clothing budget for each month. As you shoot in different outfits, you can always opt to resell them online. If you choose to keep them, that’s fine as well. However, get creative with the financing so that you’re not going into debt while you’re creating excellent content for your followers. 

Image by Анастасия Гепп from Pixabay

Styling

You can always choose the right of becoming a personal stylist. A lot of people would love help with their closets. If you promote your services to the average woman, this can help you build some traction. Consider helping women who are looking for the best ways to dress their body after they’ve had a baby. Teach women how to create effortless style. As you curate clothing for each woman’s body, this will be one less thing a woman has to worry about. As a result, you’ll be viewed as an angel that they want everyone to know about. Plus, your work will speak for itself. Word-of-mouth marketing tends to be the best kind because this means that other people can actually vouch for the excellence you produce. When others recommend your services to others, this is the gift that keeps on giving. Consider ways that you can create services for many price points and still thrive as a stylist. 

Tailoring

Tailoring is such an incredible skill to possess. If a gentleman purchases a suit jacket from Walmart and gives it to a tailor to take care of, the suit jacket can easily look like it came from an Italian suit maker. Tailoring is so essential for a polished look. This is why it’s a great idea to improve your skills as a tailor. You can also craft unique pieces that are tailored for different body types. If you purchase a simple jean jacket from the thrift store, transform it into a peplum jean jacket for a woman with specific measurements. As your clients send in their measurements to you, you can charge top dollar for the tailored designs. You can also choose to work with local clients only. It’s up to you. 

Subscription Services

Subscription services are truly trending. Many people love the food subscription services that allow a person to pull out the portion sizes and cook exactly what they need. In this case, you can apply this same concept to fashion by providing a lookbook. Craft the lookbook with interesting designs that fall under the client’s style profile. You can include the links to the various items they can purchase. Include your affiliate links to those specific items. If and when they purchase an item, you’ll get a commission on top of the fee that you charge for the subscription service.

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French luxury group Kering will no longer use models who are under the age of 18.

The fashion company owns several major fashion houses, including Gucci, Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen.

The policy will come into effect in time for the 2020-2021 Autumn/Winter collections, the company said.

Kering CEO François Henri-Pinault said in a statement that the company was “conscious of the influence exerted on younger generations” by its images.

He said: “We believe that we have a responsibility to put forward the best possible practices in the luxury sector, and we hope to create a movement that will encourage others to follow suit.”

Kering’s chief sustainability officer, Marie-Claire Daveu, added: “The physiological and psychological maturity of models aged over 18 seems more appropriate to the rhythm and demands that are involved in this profession.”

The company’s decision comes as fashion brands are increasingly trying to become more ethical, both in their designs and in their working practices.

In August 2018, Condé Nast, which publishes Vogue magazine, announced that it would not use models under the age of 18 in editorial shoots, unless they were the subject of an article.

An editorial in Vogue said at the time: “This is partly the result of an internal reckoning.

“Vogue, along with a number of other publications, has played a role in making it routine for children – since that’s what they are – to be dressed and marketed as glamorous adults.”

It continued: “No more: it’s not right for us, it’s not right for our readers, and it’s not right for the young models competing to appear in these pages. While we can’t rewrite the past, we can commit to a better future.”

Last year, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) made a similar declaration. Its CEO Steven Kolb said: “Young models are still developing. There can be a lack of the confidence, strength, experience, and maturity it takes to deal with the pressures of this work.”

In 2017, both Kering and a rival fashion group LVMH signed a charter agreeing to – among other things – stop hiring models who were under the age of 16.

A number of fashion designers have also pledged not to hire ultra-thin models and not to use exotic animal skins and fur in their designs.

It has long been common across the fashion industry to cast models who were under 18 – and indeed, many supermodels got their start in the industry at a young age.

Israel passed a law banning models with less than 18.5 BMI from advertisements or fashion shows

Model Naomi Campbell, now 48, was just 16 when she launched her career. Kate Moss, now 45, was discovered at the age of 14. Brooke Shields was just 14 when she appeared on the front cover of Vogue in February 1980.

Currently, 17-year-old Kaia Gerber is a rising star, while the late Karl Lagerfeld’s godson Hudson Kroenig, 11, was regularly seen on the catwalk.

However, a spotlight was shone on the treatment of young models in October 2017, when 14-year-old Russian model Vlada Dzyuba collapsed backstage at Shanghai Fashion Week and later died in hospital.

Vogue, in making its decision, also cited a number of allegations of harassment in the fashion industry, which were publicized as part of the #MeToo movement.

The publication added that in the mid-1980s, when Naomi Campbell launched her career, there were so few fashion shows a year that “a model could stay in school if she wished” – but nowadays the work is much more demanding.

Ralph Lauren CEO Stefan Larsson is to step down after less than two years in the post.

Stefan Larsson, a former head of Gap’s Old Navy division, was appointed chief executive of the luxury fashion company in late 2015.

He will leave on May 1st with a $10 million pay settlement after disagreements with founder and chairman Ralph Lauren over the direction of the brand.

Image source Flickr

Ralph Lauren headed the company for nearly 50 years before being succeeded by Stefan Larsson.

The company said a search was being conducted for a new chief executive.

Ralph Lauren said: “Stefan and I share a love and respect for the DNA of this great brand.

“However, we have found that we have different views on how to evolve the creative and consumer-facing parts of the business.”

Ralph Lauren also reported a 12% fall in Q4 revenue to $1.71 billion, after a slump in wholesale shipments to customers.

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Kanye West’s A.P.C. menswear collection sold out within a matter of hours after it went on sale on the brand’s website – and the heavy stream of traffic even caused the site to crash.

The collaboration – which features T-shirts, sweatshirts and jeans priced between $120 and $280 – was available for pre-order, and it is not known when a second drop of products will be expected.

APC creative director Jean Touitou, who worked with Kanye West on the new collection, told W Magazine that because of Kanye West’s “strong obsessions”, it took two years to create just three items.

“Basically, he wants to redo the whole universe,” explained Jean Touitou.

“When we finally finished this collection, I felt like, Okay, if I made this happen, then I can achieve peace in the Middle East.”

Kanye West's A.P.C. menswear collection sold out within a matter of hours after it went on sale on the brand's website

Kanye West’s A.P.C. menswear collection sold out within a matter of hours after it went on sale on the brand’s website

Jean Touitou said the resulting jeans, T-shirt and hoodie are “precious” pieces to both he and Kanye West “because it took time and thoughts to get there”.

He admitted to GQ that he had no idea who Kanye West was when they first met more than two years ago.

“A visitor to the A.P.C. studio was announced to me as <<Kenny>>. He wanted my advice on the fashion industry. . . He had nice manners and spoke about losing his mother in a surgery accident, about losing his girlfriend too, and about how difficult doing the right thing in fashion was.

“After a while, I was curious to know what this gentleman was currently doing in his life. I simply asked him: <<May I know what your trade is, sir?>> He took his shades down, so that finally I could see his eyes, and answered me: <<I am a hip hop artist>>.”

The collaboration between Kanye West and Jean Touitou was announced on last weekend via the APC Instagram feed, with an image of blue jeans featuring a red label bearing the words “A.P.C. KANYE”.

The caption read: “A.P.C. KANYE CAPSULE COLLECTION, JULY 14. #apc #kanyewest [sic].”

According to People magazine, APC has restocked some items and is accepting pre-orders for other sold-out items.

The A.P.C. collaboration follows the launch of Kanye West’s high-end womenswear line, which was widely panned by critics when it launched in 2011.

Kanye West, 36, who moved to Rome to work as an intern for Fendi as part of his research, was accused of “lack[ing in] creative marksmanship” and his efforts a “stupendously vacuous enterprise”.

His follow-up collections have since received a warmer reception, though Kanye West believes that the press has it the wrong way around.

“The first collection was way better than the second,” he said.

“It was more artful. It was 30 collections in one. It just takes time for me to slow down and think like a normal person.”

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Tyra Banks, who has famously fluctuated in weight since her days as a professional model ended, admitted today she has herself fallen victim to foolish methods of weight loss.

“A couple of years ago I lost – I wouldn’t say it was 30 [pounds] – but it was a considerable amount of weight,” said the fashion industry icon.

Tyra Banks, 38, was speaking at a press conference in Singapore to launch Asia’s Next Top Model, the latest adaptation of her successful TV franchise.

“I went on a health challenge with the crew of America’s Next Top Model, and at the time I had a talk show,” Tyra Banks explained.

Tyra Banks and her crew were filming in Brazil, and after realizing that they were “really unhealthy [and] not working out”, a decision was made to “see who can get the healthiest the fastest”.

“I’m very competitive, so what did I do? I ate so much for about three weeks, so that I could gain 10 pounds so that when we all weighed in, I could weight a lot more and then lose it fast.

“So I won. I lost a lot of weight, but then I looked in the mirror and decided I’d lost too much.

“And so I’ve actually gained some back.”

Tyra Banks admitted she has herself fallen victim to foolish methods of weight loss

Tyra Banks admitted she has herself fallen victim to foolish methods of weight loss

Tyra Banks told the Singapore audience she created America’s Next Top Model to “expand the definition of beauty, and to show different types of beauty”.

“But I feel that after 10 years of Top Model being on the air, that the public now understands that it’s not about looking like Barbie, but that it’s about so many different types of beauty.”

Tyra Banks said: “The fashion industry has always been obsessed with thin …

“I fight every single day to try to expand that, and to try to show different types of beauty.

“So sometimes my girls will win America’s Next Top Model, and then call me crying, saying they don’t fit any of the clothes at Fashion Week, and so that’s a challenge that we have.

“But it’s what the Tyra Banks company stands for, it’s what America’s Next Top Model stands for … is not having a cookie cutter.”

One of the Victoria’s Secret original angels, Tyra Banks says she’s proud of Vogue magazine.

“They just started an initiative where they’re going to pay attention to girls that they feel are unhealthy, not treating themselves their bodies right – and hopefully they won’t just have a size double zero on the runway.”

She added: “If that was the rule when I started high fashion modelling back in the day, I wouldn’t be on the stage right now, because there is no way even one of my thoighs could have gotten into a double zero.”

The high-profile entrepreneur, who famously prefers the term “fiercely real” over “plus-size” for models that aren’t double zeros, said she believes “things are changing slowly” in her industry.

“Sophia Loren and Marilyn Munroe and Jane Mansfield … the thing is with women’s bodies, our bodies go in and out of fashion.

“One decade it’s about curves, and another decade it’s about being thin, if you think about Twiggy’s era.

“Then another decade it’s about being athletic, if you think about the Eighties; then the Nineties was even more athletic – you have to have a six pack – like Janet Jackson.

“And then the new millennium was about being super stick thin, then for a little bit you had to have a big bootie like Beyonce and Kim Kardashian … and now it’s like, ‘Ooh you gotta be skinny again – but not too skinny.

“It’s really sad that as women, we cannot be really beautiful in our differences. It’s a sad fact that women have to live with.”

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Vogue magazine has been the world’s fashion bible for decades, its pages adorned with beautiful clothes – all too often modeled by painfully thin women.

Now, in a groundbreaking move, Vogue has pledged it will no longer use photographs of dangerously underweight models.

In a statement published across all of its 19 international editions on Thursday, Vogue’s editors promised not to picture models under the age of 16 or those who they believe have an eating disorder.

Vogue’s editors said the six-point pact, called The Health Initiative, aims to encourage a healthier approach to body image within the fashion industry, which has been lambasted for promoting anorexia.

Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue, said: “As one of the fashion industry’s most powerful voices, Vogue has a unique opportunity to engage with relevant issues where we feel we can make a difference.”

Vogue also promised to take more measures to look after models, including protecting their privacy and giving them healthy food and drinks backstage at shoots and fashion shows.

In a statement published across all of its 19 international editions on Thursday, Vogue’s editors promised not to picture models under the age of 16 or those who they believe have an eating disorder

In a statement published across all of its 19 international editions on Thursday, Vogue’s editors promised not to picture models under the age of 16 or those who they believe have an eating disorder

Editors agreed to be “ambassadors” for a healthy image and “not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have an eating disorder”.

They added: “We will work with models who, in our view, are healthy and help to promote a healthy body image.”

Girls under the age of 16 have already been banned from catwalks in London and the US, but this is the first time a magazine has issued its own standards.

In 2009, Alexandra Shulman spoke out against the practice of designers providing tiny sample sizes.

She sent a strongly worded letter to fashion houses saying she had been forced to hire girls “with jutting bones and no breasts or hips” so they could get into the clothes.

The letter also revealed Vogue regularly re-touched pictures to make models look healthier.

And in their statement, Vogue editors said they would encourage designers “to consider the consequences of unrealistically small sample sizes of their clothing, which limits the range of women who can be photographed in their clothes, and encourages the use of extremely thin models”.

Vogue will also ask modelling agencies not to send underage girls, and for them to check models’ ages when they are photographed for shoots.

The health of catwalk models was brought into the spotlight five years ago, when two young South American models died from what appeared to be complications related to eating disorders.

Their deaths lead to the British Fashion Council banning the use of models under 16, but they are still used in magazines.

Proposals for medical checks were shelved because they were seen as too intrusive.

And Britain has not gone as far as countries including Italy and Spain, which ban catwalk models whose body mass index is below a certain level.

Sara Ziff, 29, a former teen model and the founder of The Model Alliance, a US union which aims to improve working conditions in the fashion industry, welcomed the move.

She said: “Most editions of Vogue regularly hire models who are minors, so for Vogue to commit to no longer using models under the age of 16 marks an evolution in the industry.”

In a survey, Sara Ziff found more than half of models start working between the ages of 13 and 16.

Jonathan Newhouse, chairman of Vogue’s publisher, Condé Nast International, said: “Vogue believes that good health is beautiful.

“Vogue editors around the world want the magazines to reflect their commitment to the health of the models who appear on the pages and the wellbeing of their readers.”

In addition to agreeing not to knowingly work with models under 16 or with eating disorders, the Vogue pact says the magazines will help “structure mentoring programmes” for younger models and raise awareness of the problem of model health.

The publisher of Vogue, Conde Nast, is also responsible for several other magazines, including Glamour and Allure, but a spokesperson said there are no current plans for these guidelines to be adopted across the company.

 

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Daphne Selfe, the world’s oldest supermodel, agreed to pose as Madonna in her prime.

And if that were not enough, Daphne Selfe, 83, is wearing only the iconic conical bra and corset made by Jean Paul Gaultier for Madonna’s Blonde Ambition tour in 1990.

It’s a replica, but it’s still “terribly unforgiving. I thought they might have done a bit of airbrushing!” says Daphne Selfe, joking.

“I’m not that brave. I used to pose nude, you know, for artists including Barbara Hepworth.”

For a woman who has spent a lifetime in front of the camera, Daphne Selfe is surprisingly without vanity.

“So dreadful, which is why I normally wear long sleeves. My body is OK when I lie down, it settles rather. But, hey, what the hell, it was all for a good cause.”

The cause is Oxfam’s Big Bra Hunt. Apparently, the average woman in the UK owns nine bras, three of which she never wears. And while we readily donate clothes to charity, most of us don’t realize that women in developing countries need our bras, too.

But while we are all now aware that we should not send our clothes to landfill, it seems the fashion industry is still intent on treating its models as eminently disposable. Which is why Daphne Selfe is such a great figurehead (and body) for this campaign about longevity, and making women who are not, for whatever reason, inclined to shop in La Perla feel included.

“I’ve never had anything done to my face,” Daphne Selfe says, pulling it this way and that.

“Not that poison, not a facelift. I think it’s a waste of money. Anyway, I couldn’t afford it!”

Daphne Selfe, the oldest world’s supermodel, agreed to pose as Madonna in her prime

Daphne Selfe, the oldest world’s supermodel, agreed to pose as Madonna in her prime

So how on earth does she do it, remain so fit, so lively in her slacks and flats, so amazing!

“I think it’s partly down to good genes. My mother was a livewire, she lived until she was 95. I’ve never really bothered with skin cream or anything like that, although I might use a bit of Boots. I hate anything you can’t take the top off and dig around for what’s left in the bottom.

“I did dye my hair at home for a while when I started to go grey in my early 40s. Occasionally, I would go into L’Oreal as a guinea pig, but it became too much of a bother.

“My hair is long now because it’s cheaper, I don’t have to do anything, but put it in a topknot or a French pleat. It avoids that old lady permed look, lengthens the neck and lifts the face. I’ve got so many friends who don’t touch the make-up pot. You should keep looking nice, it makes you feel so much better.”

Daphne Selfe looks beautiful, but so very different to today’s models: she has a tiny waist (“It was 24in, today it’s 27in! At least I haven’t got fat”), but rather chunky thighs, and wide shoulders.

“I would never have made it starting out today,” Daphne Selfe admits.

“I was too short, just 5ft 7in, with wide shoulders from all the riding I did as a young girl. But no one ever asked me to lose weight. Rationing was in place until 1954, so you were always grateful to get good food.”

Daphne Selfe grew up in Berkshire, UK, the daughter of a teacher, and was packed off to boarding school at eight. At the age of 20, working as a “shop girl in coats” in a Reading department store, she entered a local newspaper’s modeling competition and won.

“I’d been told I was nice looking a couple of times, but no, not really. I then started working steadily, it was wonderful.

“In those days, all models had training, we were shown how to walk and stand elegantly.

“I started off modeling fur, which in those days wasn’t controversial. I did mainly work as a house model, and a few advertisements. We were often photographed holding a cigarette, and I didn’t even smoke!

“But when I got married in 1954, I assumed I would never work again. My family came first. We weren’t well off, but that didn’t really matter. It’s dreadful women today have to work and can’t look after their families.”

Asked about what she thinks of fashion these days, Daphne Selfe said: “They don’t look in the mirror, do they? I do think women are too sloppy these days. No matter where I was going, I had a hat, and matching bags and shoes. Like all girls in those days I made the most of my own clothes. Not like models today, who seem to wear skinny jeans between shows. I always wore a roll-on corset. Never leggings! Just dreadful!”

Daphne Selfe has three children – Mark, 57, Claire, 53, and Rose, 51 – and although she soon got her figure back, she assumed motherhood meant the end of her modeling career.

“I fell out of fashion in the Sixties,” she says.

“I was what you called rather strapping, at 10½ stone! So I continued with a bit of acting work, and was an extra in films.”

Did she fear getting older, having worked as a model?

“It’s going to happen, so why worry? My generation got on with it. I do find people are always complaining these days. I try to remain cheerful, not grumpy. I’ve developed glaucoma, but the drops I have to put in my eyes have made my lashes grow! So there is always a plus side.

“I think it’s important to remain passionate about things. I’m going to a meeting later about saving our local church, and I’m off to France next week to see the village that is twinned with the one where I live in Hertfordshire. I garden, I walk a lot and I do yoga – my version of yoga, I don’t have time for classes.

“I can email! I’ve always worked, too, bits and pieces, right up until when my husband became very ill.”

Daphne Selfe’s husband, Jim, who worked in television, suffered a series of strokes.

“He was cantankerous. He got frustrated. He was all right with others, but at home he was not good!” says Daphne Selfe.

She cared for him full-time until he died in 1997, aged 72. But Daphne Selfe doesn’t dwell on the negatives.

“I couldn’t have done [modeling], could I? Looking after him, it would never have happened. I’ve been lucky.”

In 1998, Daphne Selfe was asked to appear on the catwalk for Red or Dead.

“I said: <<Ooh, goodie>>. I love wearing clothes and mucking about.”

The stylist suggested her to go to Vogue, who were creating a special issue about age.

“I think they needed someone to represent <<ancient>>,” Daphne Selfe says modestly.

That photograph, taken by Nick Knight, led to her being signed up by Models 1.

Does she feel, over a decade later, that she is still the token older woman rather than an ideal of beauty?

“Oh no, I don’t think so. I’m doing more high fashion now than I did as a young woman, I think because at last I’ve lost the puppy fat! You can see the bones in my face. I’ve worked with Mario Testino, he was so kind, and Rankin – I knew his parents, both dead now – and Dolce & Gabbana.

“I’m always working in Paris, quite often with designer Fanny Karst, who does wonderful clothes for the elderly. I find you have to be fit to brave Primark, but I do shop there.

“I tend to wear all the clothes I have in my wardrobe from decades ago: every style seems to come round again. The only thing I can no longer wear is high heels, my feet have vasculitis, a weakness and numbness. But from my ankles up I’m OK.”

How do the younger models treat her?

“They are so lovely to me. They tell me they want to look like me when they get older. But they are babies.”

Was the fashion world nicer in her day?

“I imagine there were drugs, and alcohol. But I was so innocent, I never noticed that.”