Daphne Selfe – A Successful Supermodel at 82

In a world obsessed with physical beauty and aging, 82-year-old Daphne Selfe proves you’re never too old to have a successful modeling career.

The grandmother of four has been working in the fashion industry for over 60 years, and thanks to her perfect posture, incredible cheekbones and long, grey hair she’s now more popular than she’s ever been. Daphne has appeared in commercials for companies like Nivea and Olay, has modeled for designers the likes of Dolce & Gabbana and was featured in fashion magazines Vogue and Marie Claire. She has never had any cosmetic surgery done, and managed to earn up to $1,600 a day working as a model.

Daphne Selfe began her modeling career in 1950. She was 20 years old and her colleagues at a department store in Reading, England, convinced her to enter a local modeling competition, which she ended up winning. Selfe went on to become a house model for clothing manufacturers and furriers and appeared in a few advertising campaigns. She remembers she had a decent career for about five years, but she was nothing special back then.

Although she continued to work as a model, Daphne’s big break came fairly late, in 1998, a year after her husband passed away. She was contacted by her agent and asked to appear in the Red or Dead show, at London Fashion Week. She thought it was a joke, but that’s where she was spotted by one of the world’s largest modeling agencies, Models 1. It was the start of a whole new career, one that was a lot more glamorous than she’d ever known. It began with an appearance in Vogue magazine, after which she learned there were plenty of big companies eager to work with a good looking octogenarian to appeal to older demographics.

Daphne says she’s lucky she’s half Irish, which is where she gets her strong bone structure and slim figure, and claims her long grey hair is the secret behind her glorious career. She does yoga to keep fit, eats large amounts of fruits, vegetables and fish, drinks plenty of water and says she doesn’t feel a day over 60. The 82-year-old supermodel loves what she does and plans to keep modeling until people stop asking for her services.

Regarding competition with younger models, Daphne Selfe says most of them admire her, but they’re not jealous because they don’t see her as a threat. She admits she has a niche all of her own.