Gray-Haired Models Steal the Show on Fashion’s Biggest Runway
Chanel featured multiple mature women in its couture show.
Kristy Sparow/Getty Images
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A model with gray hair received the fashion industry’s most coveted spotlight this week.
At Paris Fashion Week, the top fashion house Chanel opened its Haute Couture show for the Spring/Summer 2026 season with a model whose curly hair was a mixture of dark and light gray hues. The model, Stephanie Cavalli, walked the runway in a see-through chiffon set in a pale rose tone.
“I never thought I would do something like open a Chanel show. It was completely unexpected, especially at my age,” she told Vogue. While the model’s age is not officially listed, the South China Morning Post reports that Cavalli is 49.
The designer’s casting of mature models stands in stark contrast to most shows in the luxury fashion world, where gray hair—or any visible indication that a model is older than 25—rarely gets attention.
Kristy Sparow/Getty Images
Cavalli made her Chanel walking debut at its 2025 Métiers d’Art show, but this was her first time opening for the Parisian fashion house. Chanel’s artistic director, Matthieu Blazy, chose her to open the show during her first Couture fitting.
“He told me he was inspired by me and wanted me to open the show. I was happy, obviously, and a little nervous too, because I feel like it’s quite a responsibility to open such a big show,” she recalled, adding, “But I did it.”
The show also featured several other mature models, including Laura Ponte, 52, and Christina Chung, 59, a mother of seven who began modeling in her 50s.
Christina Chung, Laura Ponte, and Leslie Venus walking at the Chanel Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2026 show.
Aitor Rosas Sune; Vittorio Zunino Celott; Peter White/Getty Images
Cavalli said she only began to embrace her grays a few years ago amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “I was tired of having to color it all the time, and feeling that sometimes the color would come out nice, but sometimes it wouldn’t.”
The initial adjustment was hard, she said, but “as soon as I realized it was making a difference in both my hair health and my career, I stuck with it.”
Cavalli started her runway career in 2023, when she was already in her forties. She has since walked for brands including Miu Miu and Lacoste.
She told Vogue, “I didn’t wear my hair like this to show that gray is great, but it turns out, somehow, that that’s true anyway.”