Daphne Selfe Is World’s Oldest Supermodel At 80

At the age of 80, Daphne Selfe is no doubt the oldest supermodel in the world, strutting down the catwalk for Dolce & Gabbana, Tata-Naka and Michiko Koshino.


Nearly 60 years ago, Daphne Selfe started her modeling career with a 36-24-37 vital statistics. She stood 5’7” tall and had dark bob hair.

Now at 80, she still stands proud in a graceful posture of 36-26-36 and 8st 4lb , matched with striking cheekbones and long, lustrous bold grey hair. She’s currently booked by a top modeling agency, a covergirl for Vogue and Marie Claire, and do photo shoots with Mario Testino, Nick Knight, and David Bailey. She earns up to £1,000 a day in campaigns for top companies like Dolce and Gabbana, Gap, Nivea, and Olay.

Unlike other women who suffer insecurity in their 50th year onwards when their skins start sagging and their hairs start greying, Daphne Selfe confesses that she owe her continuous modeling career to the changes that she had to go through while aging. So it follows that she does not go to any cosmetic surgery procedures to fake her age.

"I was very lucky. I think it helps that I am half-Irish and I have a strong bone structure and I'm supple. My comeback was extraordinary and quite ironic. I got big when I embraced my age and went grey. My hair is my fortune, it made me more striking. Other younger models admire me but they're not jealous as I'm not a threat. I have a niche all of my own,” she proudly says.

She adds, “In those days you did your own hair and make-up for a shoot. Now I go as I am to a job and someone else takes complete care of me. It's wonderful.”

Daphne Selfe started modeling in 1950, after she was discovered while working in the fashion department of John Lewis in Reading. She won a local modeling competition, posed for photographer Gilbert Adams, and got to fill for a London agency’s fashion show as a last-minute model. She then signed for the agency and was sent to a three-week training course in London. Eventually, she received her first modeling job at 5 guineas (£15.75). Later, she got married and but still pursued modeling. In 1998, she joined a show for Red or Dead where she was spotted by an agent for Models 1. It was the start of her appearance for major brand campaigns.

While it’s the “predatory men” in the fashion industry that Daphne Selfe considers as greatest pitfall in modeling during her youth, today she believes that its the cocaine and alcohol. Aside from this, she also sees how contemporary models suffer from the pressure of being thin. She says, “My vital statistics were 36-24-37, and although I weighed 10st, no one asked me to lose weight. Some girls are naturally slim, like Lily Cole, but others take it too far and just look ill and gaunt. There should be a far wider spread of body shapes but at the end of day, the clothes must look good too. It's tricky.”

Being the world’s oldest supermodel at 80, Daphne Selfe maintains her figure by doing yoga and diets consisting of large amounts of fruit, vegetables and fish and drinking plenty of water.

"I don't feel a day over 60. It's fantastic. I'll continue modeling until they stop asking. I love it. It's fun and keeps me young,” she declares.