83-year-old Carmen Dell’Orefice is giving young supermodels everywhere a run for their money! She’s the world’s oldest working supermodel and when you see just how fabulous she is, you’ll be amazed!
In 1946 she caught the eye of prominent artist, Salvador Dalí, and he asked to draw her. Now, fashion illustrator, David Downtown, is sketching this stunning woman for Vanity Fair nearly 70 years later.
Most models have short career window, but Carmen Dell’Orefice is pushing barriers one magazine cover at a time!
Carmen’s first time on the cover of Vogue was when she was 15 years old, but that means nothing to her, she says. “I never really understood what it was they were looking at, what they saw in me.” We do!
Now at the age of 83, she’s on the cover of more magazines than ever before, including New You, You, and Vogue, and fronting luxury brands like Rolex, Gautlier, Galliano, and Mugler.
But it wasn’t just her stunning looks that encouraged this natural-born star to achieve stardom. When she was first spotted by a photographer in New York City at 13 years old, her family was struggling to survive in the new country. The only child of an Italian immigrant father and Hungarian mother, Carmen modelled only to help support both her impoverished parents, but it didn’t take long for her to thrive in the industry.
After 70 years of successful modeling, Carmen says, “There’s no way I would have got to see so much of the world, with my humble background without modeling.” Her family was penniless and hungry, but her energy behind the camera and passion to pursue great things in life allowed her to travel.
Carmen Dell’Orefice’s evolution from poor, skinny teenager to still-sexy grande dame has been charted by the prominent fashion elites of successive generations. Although beauty has been her passport to a long-lasting success, she owes her prosperity to her will to achieve greatness. Needless to say, this isn’t your ordinary grandma.
“If I die, it will be with my high heels on.”
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