Supermodel, 83, graces magazine cover

Katia Hetter
By Katia Hetter, CNN
2 minute read
Updated 2:55 PM EST, Fri February 13, 2015
Model Carmen Dell'Orefice, 83, graces the cover of New You magazine, on newsstands now.
Model Carmen Dell'Orefice, 83, graces the cover of New You magazine, on newsstands now.
Fadil Berisha for NEW YOU magazine
Dell'Orefice, who got her first Vogue cover at age 15, defies the ageism in the modeling industry, which tends to focus on young women.
Dell'Orefice, who got her first Vogue cover at age 15, defies the ageism in the modeling industry, which tends to focus on young women.
Fadil Berisha for NEW YOU magazine
Dell'Orefice says she's worked more in the past 25 years than in the previous era of her career.
Dell'Orefice says she's worked more in the past 25 years than in the previous era of her career.
Fadil Berisha for NEW YOU magazine
Dell'Orefice attended the "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2014 in New York.
Dell'Orefice attended the "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2014 in New York.
John Lamparski/Getty Images
Dell'Orefice and photographer Victor Skrebneski, winner of the Lucie award for "Outstanding Achievement in Fashion," attended the 11th Annual Lucie Awards at Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall on October 27, 2013 in New York.
Dell'Orefice and photographer Victor Skrebneski, winner of the Lucie award for "Outstanding Achievement in Fashion," attended the 11th Annual Lucie Awards at Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall on October 27, 2013 in New York.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Dell'Orefice still walks the runway at fashion shows. Here she strolled the runway at the Norisol Ferrari Spring 2013 fashion show on September 10, 2012 in New York.
Dell'Orefice still walks the runway at fashion shows. Here she strolled the runway at the Norisol Ferrari Spring 2013 fashion show on September 10, 2012 in New York.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Dell'Orefice walked the runway at a Marimekko fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, also on September 10, 2012.
Dell'Orefice walked the runway at a Marimekko fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, also on September 10, 2012.
Dario Canatatore/Getty Images
Dell'Orefice wore a hat and a mohair wrap while walking the aisle of an airplane during a 1955 fashion show.
Dell'Orefice wore a hat and a mohair wrap while walking the aisle of an airplane during a 1955 fashion show.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Supermodel, 83, exudes ageless beauty

Story highlights

Carmen Dell'Orefice got her first Vogue cover at age 15

She just snagged her latest magazine cover at age 83

"I am in a territory that business considers unmarketable: age and white hair"

CNN  — 

Supermodel Carmen Dell’Orefice’s latest magazine cover celebrates the beauty and longevity of a modeling career that has spanned nearly 70 years.

After posing for Salvador Dali at 13 and for her first Vogue cover at 15, Dell’Orefice recently told New You magazine that she’s actually worked more in the past 25 years than ever before.

“I had a very respectable career but I didn’t have a specific look,” said Dell’Orefice. “I was a chameleon.”

“Fortunately, there was always somebody who knew I was good when I showed up, was responsible, not temperamental, and could do the job well,” she said. “Today I am in a territory that business considers unmarketable: age and white hair. Slowly, however, I started to own that territory little by little because I stood up for age.”

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The cover of New You’s spring issue features Dell’Orefice, still sporting striking cheekbones and a full mane of silver hair, looking timelessly elegant in black and pearls.

“Carmen is the embodiment of being able to do anything you want no matter what age you are,” said Ruchel Louis Coetzee, co-executive editor of New You, which targets women ages 35 and older. “She defies age.”

What Dell’Orefice does, Coetzee said, is listen to her body and take care of it, so she can do whatever she wants to do.

A woman turning age 65 today can expect to live, on average, until age 86. In a world where people are living longer, it makes sense for magazines to target older women.

That may be why some advertisers are following suit. Oscar winner Helen Mirren, 69, and longtime model Twiggy (real name Lesley Lawson), 65, are both modeling for L’Oreal Paris.

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