As we head toward New York Fashion Week, it’s only right to pay tribute to the role of fashion in society, and to the older women who pioneered (and still do) the fashion trends that have taken hold. Accordingly, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York recently published an article, “Aged to Perfection: Honoring Fashion Elders in The Costume Institute Library.” The article takes the reader through a voyage of designers, fashion models, magazine covers, books, and exhibition catalogs all celebrating the iconic women who represent fashion at its finest, regardless of their age. Anyone can go to the Costume Institute website and gaze at the Met’s collection of clothing, past fashion exhibits, and the people behind these fashion images. 

Among those celebrated by the Met? Certainly, there is the iconic Iris Apfel, who died this past year at the age of 102, and who remained a design inspiration and fashion trendsetter up until her last days. But she left us all a “legacy” book which was just published, entitled Iris Apfel: Colorful: A Treasure Trove of Inspiration, Influences, and Ideas. Described as a “scrapbook of all things Iris,” the book is an overflowing amalgam of her ideas on outfits, jewelry, fabrics, and design. In case you missed it, you can read here about the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibit of some of Iris Apfel’s collections that was mounted in 2006.

Also mentioned in the Met’s article on fashion is Ari Seth Cohen, famous for photographing and celebrating the most fashionable older women to be found in today’s world. As Cohen said, “Style has the power to bring visibility to the often unseen,” and no one has done more than him to make sure the world sees the most creative and stylish older women who exist today. You may be familiar with his previous books, including Advanced Style, Advanced Style: Older and Wiser, and Advanced Love. But get ready for his latest book, to be published this coming November, entitled Advanced Pets which will celebrate stylish older women and the pets that fill their world.

Finally, one other fashion “elder” whose beauty was celebrated in the fashion world and whose activism made it possible for the world of fashion to become more inclusive and diverse. Bethann Hardison was a pioneering Black model in the 1960s, who not only defied constraints at the time but went on to found her own modeling agency while advocating to make the fashion world more inclusive and representative. She has a glamorous and important role even today in helping to define and expand what fashion means for all women, including older women. To learn more about her work and life, you can watch a recent documentary about her on all streaming platforms and watch the trailer here.