Paris Fashion Week: 70 is the new 17

What do you check in the mirror before you rush out the door? Is it a thinning patch of hair? Wrinkles on your forehead? What part of you do you try and hide during family photos? Whatever it is, you might not have to worry about it much longer because Paris Fashion Week 2023 has declared that ageing is now ‘cool’.

The event took place in early October and was a celebration of being authentic and embracing your age. Model and actress Pamela Anderson, age 56, went ‘courageously’ without makeup. At age 78, Dame Helen Mirren walked the runway for L’Oréal with her natural grey hair on proud display, as did actress Andie MacDowell, age 65.

It reflects a wider cultural move. September saw the world’s first make-up-free beauty pageant take place in London and several global brands are dropping language like ‘anti-ageing’ – instead ‘promoting the idea that looking your age is aspirational’ (The Guardian).