Move over Kendall Jenner - or at least make room – a new wave is hitting the runways of Fashion Week, and this time it’s not just youth and fresh faces taking centre stage, but a diverse array of older individuals who are redefining what it means to be fashionable. “I feel like we often celebrate one kind of beauty in fashion, which is youthful, and I’m worried about that approach,” said Balmain’s creative director Olivier Rousteing after his SS24 show earlier this year, which included the likes of Axelle Doué, 70; Kristina de Coninck, 63; Estelle Levy, 51; and Marie Seguy, 47. In fact, 20 out of 57 models were older than 35.

“We tend to forget that the future is also held within women that have had a life,” he added. “For me, that’s what I wanted to show: women that have lived and continue to live their lives, instead of just young girls that have their whole lives in front of them.” Cher, who sat on the front row, is Rousteing’s archetypal customer – a wealthy woman in her 70s armoured in his sharply tailored clothing.

Indeed, the French fashion designer is not the only creative to have bucked the youthful model trend. Women of and above middle age have become a more commonplace sight on the runway - according to the fashion search engine Tagwalk, roughly three-quarters of the top 20 runway shows in both Paris and Milan last season featured at least one older model while, at Vetements and Schiaparelli, the figure was closer to a fifth of all models cast. At the former, actress Marcia Cross, 61, best known as Bree Van de Kamp in the Noughties television series Desperate Housewives closed the show.

And it doesn’t end there. At Miu Miu, Miuccia Prada cast actresses Kristin Scott Thomas, 63 and Ángela Molina, 68, as well as Qin Huilan, 70, a Chinese doctor turned social media influencer from Shanghai, who had been approached by the fashion house about modelling in the show through her direct messages. She said of the experience: “I took action to prove that age is not a problem! Who would have thought that at the age of 70, I would be standing here on the runway today? Come on! Look! This is Paris! Look! This is Miu Miu’s runway!”

In New York in February, Batsheva Hay also cast only models over the age of 40 (she didn't approach any modelling agencies with this request; she approached women she happened to see out and about on the street), while 53-year-old Bethany Nagy walked in the Saint Laurent show, and could simultaneously be spotted on billboards all over Paris.

With the AW24 shows set to kick off imminently, time will tell if designers who have championed age-diversity at their latest shows really do stick with it next season, or quickly move on to another ‘new look’. Here’s hoping it’s the former.

Meet The Models

Left to Right: Bethany Nagy, Axelle Doué & Daphne Selfe

Bethany Nagy, 53

She may say she was considered a “retirement age” model when she hit the catwalks at 25, but the now 53-year-old modelling veteran is just one of the models leading a trend of mature women being employed to pose for high-end fashion houses. We saw her in both the Balmain and Saint Laurent SS24 shows, and may there still be plenty more where that came from.

Axelle Doué, 70

Also joining the catwalk at Balmain, Doué began her modelling career in 1980, and told The Telegraph she is thrilled to be back at it. “I hope it’s not just a ‘fashion effect’,” she said.

“It’s great to represent the seniors, “the silvers” as my agency calls us, because after all let’s look at the street – there are women and men of all ages, who dress, put on makeup, wear perfume, wear jewellery. According to the advertisements, fashion should only be the privilege of the youth. We say elegance is [found] at any age.”

Daphne Selfe, 96

Taking her last modelling gig at the age of 89 just six years ago, Selfe has been in the business since 1949, and has had a huge variety of jobs, appearing in advertisements for anything from clothes to breakfast cereal to gin. She was rediscovered at the age of 70 when her husband died after a long illness, and was quickly enlisted by Vogue, Dolce and Gabbana, Nivea and Olay, among others.

Meet The Tastemakers

Left to Right: Anna Wintour, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani & Grace Coddington

Anna Wintour, 74

Think of the grand dames of the American fashion industry, and Anna Wintour is the first that comes to mind. The ultimate editor and industry powerbroker has led the world’s most influential fashion magazine, Vogue, for decades, Condé Nast’s now-chief content officer is widely regarded as the most influential figure in fashion.

Ralph Lauren, 84

Everyone knows the name Ralph Lauren. A self-made American lifestyle guru who made a name for himself with sporty collared shirts later known as his signature ‘Polo’ shirts, he is renowned for building one of the world’s largest fashion and apparel houses, generating a total of about $7 billion a year, from scratch.

Giorgio Armani, 70

Having just celebrated his 70th birthday, the founder of the iconic Armani brand continues to shape the landscape of men’s and women’s fashion with his signature blend of sophistication and understated glamour. The Italian designer has built a global empire around sleek tailoring, boasting an illustrious career that spans over 35 years.

Grace Coddington, 83

The former creative director at-large at Vogue House is still very much an influential figure in the industry, having begun her career as a model in London’s swinging sixties. She has now taken on a newly created role at the company, creative director at large and, for the first time since joining the publication in 1988, is permitted to work on external projects.