Model Halyna Herasymova caused quite a stir in May when her photos in the online glossy magazine L’Officiel Ukraine were shared widely in the Ukrainian media and on social networks.
Journalists, model agencies and television stations were soon clamoring to talk to her. She is indeed unlike any other fashion model in Ukraine, as Herasymova, at 69, is the country’s oldest one.
The photos were her first experience in modeling. They have made a huge change to Herasymova’s life, in a short time turning her from a regular retiree into a star. But she is still shy about her unexpected fame.
“It’s all new to me. I’m not used to all these things. Sometimes I feel very ashamed,” she says sipping her coffee in a café in Kyiv’s Podil district.
Still, Herasymova differs from most of her peers. She is a small, beautiful woman with bright, blue, playful eyes and feline grace. The elegant black and white dress she is wearing perfectly emphasizes her femininity.
“It’s obvious that as one gets older, wrinkles appear and the shape of the body changes, but I personally don’t feel like an old woman,” Herasymova says.
She says she has never used any special cosmetics to maintain her looks, but has always tried to devote her time to the people she loves and the hobbies she enjoys.
And Herasymova never thought she might one day become a model. She got married at the age of 19 and devoted all her life to raising two daughters, and now has four grandchildren.
It was her eldest grandson, 24,who made Herasymova famous. The young man took professional photographs of his favorite grandmother and posted them on social networks. The editors of L’Officiel noticed the photos of this beautiful and glamorous woman and decided to feature her in their “Forever Young” photo project.
The aim of L’Officiel’s project was to change Ukrainian women’s attitude to the lifestyle and image, L’Officiel chief editor Daria Zarivnaya says.
“Our aim was to show that a woman can be beautiful, good looking and feminine at any age,” Zarivnaya says, adding that most Ukrainian women still believe in Soviet clichés, such as that when a woman reaches a certain age, her clothing and makeup choices should shrink.
“Ukrainian women still lack a healthy hedonism,” Zarivnaya adds. “The fact that these photographs provoked such a stir says something about the immaturity of our society.”
Herasymova turned out to be an ideal candidate for L’Officiel’s “Forever Young” project as “she is beautiful, aristocratic, and has French chic,” Zarivnaya explains.
The photo shoot lasted six hours and Herasymova posed in six different attires.
“She wasn’t afraid to try out different looks. She worked as well as a professional model,” Zarivnaya says.
Photo of Halyna Herasymova for the Forever Young, the photo project by L’Officiel Ukraine magazine. For her first professional fashion shooting Herasymova posed in six different outfits. (L’Officiel/Tatiana Timal)
Although Herasymova is the first and only senior model in Ukraine, mature models have long been in demand among Western designers. In 2004, the famous Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, which featured naked, mature models demonstrating how the Dove products kept their skin beautiful, was much discussed among both critics and consumers.
In 2014, 65-year-old model and actress Jessica Lange starred in Marc Jacobs’ Beauty campaign. Carmen Dell’Orefice, one of the world’s most famous mature models, appeared on the cover of U.S. glossy magazine New You last year. And the career of Britain’s oldest supermodel, Daphne Selfe, 87, is also on the rise – she has graced the pages of Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, and Vanity Fair magazines.
Herasymova also now hopes for a successful career. The Russian model agency “Oldushka” has already made her a job offer, and a British modeling agency plans to hire her for a future campaign.
“The photo shoots make me happy, give me such a drive,” Herasymova says.
Meanwhile, she is helping other women come to terms with aging. Herasymova says that every day she receives dozens of messages from women of different ages on her Facebook page.
“Women usually write to thank me for helping them realize that it is not a terrible thing to get older,” Herasymova says.
