Grandmas on the runway: Retired women challenge age norms with stunning fashion debuts at Vienna Fashion Week 2024

Retired people shine at Vienna Fashion Week

More than a year ago, she joined a sewing club for the city’s pensioners run by Irina Reichel, determined to step into the notoriously closed world of fashion this year. “Taking these ten women out on the catwalk means taking a stand against age discrimination, but also in favour of social inclusion,” Reichel said, gesturing to her “dazzling” pupils, who were dressed in a beautiful evening gown and even a wedding dress.

The fashion show on Tuesday afternoon was a great success, with the audience cheering the senior models’ catwalk show, which was on a par with the catwalk shows of other fashion brands. Fashion Week manager Ziggy Müller-Mattias, who advocates for an inclusive fashion, said many of the younger models at this week’s shows were very impressed by the initiative, and asked to take a look at the work being done by their seniors.

“I think the fashion industry is stepping up and getting involved,” she said. From the audience, Verena Heger said she saw herself in the models walking the catwalk, adding that they were just as “beautiful” as other people because they were “glowing from within”. “Modernity transcends age,” said Heger, who retired two years ago, before a 70-year-old man walked forward to thunderous applause wearing a transparent blouse and black bra.