By Sarah Meyssonnier
PARIS (Reuters) – Hand in hand, wearing white edgy outfits, elderly models and fashion students walked an unusual fashion show on Thursday evening in Paris, to promote a more inclusive stance on age.
“To live this at my age, it really moves me,” said Daisy Salmon, 90, who added she was delighted to be there and talk with youngsters. “I will remember this for a long time.”
Charity Les Petits Freres des Pauvres (little brothers of the Poor) organized the intergenerational show to challenge ageist views in collaboration with fashion school LISAA Mode Paris, whose students designed the clothes, or walked alongside Salmon and other models.
“Why not elderly people,” 21 year-old Christian Gonzalez said. “We forget them too often in our society.”
The charity’s goal with the show is to shine a light on the need for more age diversity in fashion, as part of a broader campaign to raise awareness about the gap between elderly people’s realities and social clichés, which can lead to their isolation.
(Reporting by Sarah Meyssonnier, writing by Juliette Jabkhiro, editing by Tomasz Janowski)
