The AGE can also be BEAUTIFUL

We are all aware that the concept of human beauty tends to evolve over time.

From Classical Antiquity to the present day, works of art give us the most expressive example. The male gods were usually heavy and powerful men and the supreme beauty of Venus – Goddess of Love, usually appeared associated with a generous woman in form and size. 

Rembrandt’s vision, too, denotes a preference for the human in its most enigmatic and profound version, and the captivating human beauty of his paintings is usually illustrated by beings with expressive age.

It was only in recent times that beauty seems to have stagnated in the stereotype, always very young, thin, androgynous and squalid models, that fashion seems to have been the great ambassador.

So it comes with a great surprise the clever  and revolutionary project from Russian photographer, Igor Gavar, that appeared a few years ago. A modeling agency that only represents women age 45 and above? In an industry that historically puts models out to pasture after age 30 (with very few exceptions), it’s a revolutionary concept. But that’s just what former street style photographer Igor Gavar did in establishing Oldushka, a one-year-old, Moscow-based company that flouts traditional fashion rules. As the name implies, Oldushka is committed to finding work for “aged” models and broadening their career opportunities. The agency currently represents 18 models, ages 45 to 85, based in cities all across Russia.

“Beauty — it’s a quality that becomes more valued with years,” Gavar told Vogue. “I met some very interesting faces, and I wanted to do a separate project with them. A modeling agency became that sort of project.”

Gavar couldn’t have chosen a better time to pursue his passion. The fashion industry’s narrow definition of beauty — one that elevates those who are young, white, tall, thin and cisgender — has begun to expand. Women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond turned up more this Fashion Month than during any season in recent memory. 

In addition to generating work, the agency is giving older models an opportunity to try new things, according to one of its faces, 62-year-old Valentina Yassen, whose shoulder-length white hair and sky-high cheekbones were first spotted by Gavar in a photograph. “I was a professional actress, and for many years I worked in the theater, but now I’m not onstage,” says Yassen. “I was nervous about entering modeling. But my son convinced me, saying, ‘Mama, you aren’t so popular that you would ruin your reputation as an actress by being photographed in an advertisement. You’re not going to lose anything, but it is possible to open something new for yourself.’” Yassen has since gone on to model for the St. Petersburg magazine Sobaka and the boutique 8-Store.