At 54 Cindy Joseph is as popular as ever appearing in countless ad campaigns and even her own fitness video. This mother of 2, 50+ fashion model did not get her start in her teens like many top fashion models, rather, she started her modeling career in her late 40’s by actually being “discovered” by an agent. Yes, at 49 Cindy got discovered when a casting agent approached her about doing a ad campaign for the young, hip and trendy, D&G. What seemed like a joke to her at first became her second career and this gray haired fashion model now commands top prices for her time.
The following is from a CNN article about older fashion models and fashion icons.
The French expression “woman of a certain age” refers to middle-age, and the French — and Europeans in general — have long appreciated the beauty of older women.
But as 53-year-old Streep said that day: “America doesn’t reward people of my age, either in day-to-day life or for their performances.”
Those words resonated with her fans back home — getting older has a bad rap in the United States, especially if you’re a woman.
“As human beings we all want to be valued,” says former makeup artist Cindy Joseph. “But the sad truth is that women are judged based on their looks, and in this age-obsessed society our value goes down as our age goes up.”
Which is why Joseph thought “it was a joke” when a casting agent approached her on an East Village street in Manhattan nearly three years ago, asking if she wanted to model for an upcoming campaign for Dolce & Gabbana, the hip couture fashion house.
For one thing, Cindy, a single mother of two, was 49 at the time and ready to retire from the fashion business. Twenty-three years of painting some of the most famous faces in L.A., New York, Paris, and beyond had been fun, but the Seattle, Washington, native was ready to swap city living for a life “in the wilderness somewhere out West.”
But in truth, the biggest roadblock to modeling was the little voice inside her head.
“Like everybody else, I suffered from all the prejudices about what a model should look like,” she laughs. “I was not 18 years old. I wasn’t 6 feet tall. And I wasn’t really, really skinny.” A perfect size 6, Cindy is 5-feet-7-inches tall and her weight ranges between 125 to 130 pounds.
But the creative team at Dolce & Gabbana saw things differently and hired a stunned Joseph for the gig.
Once the ad was published, the new “it” girl came to the attention of Patty Sicular and Janet Rohan of Ford Models in New York City — legendary home of supermodels. The two signed her to an exclusive contract just two days after their first meeting.
Looking back, Sicular, co-director of the Ford’s celebrity and classic division, recalls, “Cindy only defied convention in terms of her height ” — two inches shy of Ford’s minimum height requirement — “and her decision to begin modeling about 25 years later than the usual starting age. But knew we could get her
booked.”
Those instincts proved correct.
“O, The Oprah Magazine” was one of the first to feature Cindy in its pages. Before long, she was hired for lucrative print and TV ads for such companies as Lincoln Navigator, Nordstrom, Banana Republic, Hush Puppies and Verizon Wireless.
Joseph’s look was seen as strong, contemporary, confident and authentic. But most important: Consumers reacted to her image positively, proving that she had what it takes to move merchandise for clients. Her career took off — and today she commands a rate of up to $25,000 for a day’s work.
you can read more of the Cindy Joseph story and other gray haired fashion models in the CNN older beauty article.
Other gray haired high fashion models are Carmen, who has been modeling for 50 years and Kristen McMenamy who recently modeled for Givenchy strutting her long natural gray hair down the catwalk.
Cindy Joseph is one hot “graybe” (gray-haired babe) . . . sexy!
Discovery by D&G is not quite true. As a CD I had hired Cindy for ANN TAYLOR LOFT already in 2002 for catalog and advertising shoots. She was already repped by FORD then and well known in the industry as an older model. D&G was her first hi-fashion client and this is certainly more news worthy. But these enduring “discovered in the East Village’ stories equals the B.S. of “once having been a shepherd in Somalia” story of Iman. The fashion industry simply sucks in trying to build its own myths. Cindy is a total pro, cool gal, affectionate and very, very smart! And she came out right at a time where older women are being allowed to be sexually desirable. You go, lady!
The CNN article is dated March 2003, the images used are 2001, the quotes are said to be from Cindy (CNN), since they are using 2001 images, I imagine they are talking BEFORE 2002, the Ann Taylor catalog. Cindy is the person who gives that account of how she got started. CNN is not the National Enquirer, I doubt they would intentionally publish false statements.
You have have mistook the Cindy Joseph article for a new article, it is not. The article does not give an exact date of when she started modeling, only prior to 2001. She was in the fashion industry as a make-up artist already.
The article says she was approached about doing some modeling work, nobody says it was in the street or mall. She was asked to do it by people she already knew and worked with.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/03/07/older.beauty.models/
I do admire her, she stays true to her own age in a time when most people try to hide it. I see her everywhere now. I can’t walk through the mall without running into her ad at least three times.
Anna, I have been interviewed a few times in my career by all kinds of magazines and newspapers. Many times when I read the quotes I thought “I didn’t say this!” or “That’s only part of the sentence - this reads wrong now!”. What is one to do- it’s already published. O well… A paper has to make their stories juicy to attract readers and advertisers. And you too have to make your story, comments interesting, to get your name published. That doesn’t always make the story 100% correct. Call it ‘journalistic freedom’, even CNN does it. I have no reason to make up stories or (God forbid) making Cindy’s life difficult. I write this only to aspiring models/photographers to be wary and careful to not believe the ‘hype’ of the industry. Be wary at all times. Cindy was constantly on jobs with agents, models, photographers she didn’t need to be ‘discovered’ on the street by a casting agent (as the CNN article states). Her greatest advantage is that she knew everything and then some about the ‘industry’. The part about her not coloring her great gray hair she told me too- that’s the essence of why she got in front of the camera for a change.
Compliments to your site, btw. If I would still be working in fashion I would check it out more often - very informative!
Hi, I’m a very good looking 49-year old woman who recently stopped coloring my hair and I’m looking for a modeling job for hair/cosmetics in Los Angeles.
Please let me know if you’re looking for anyone right now.
Thank you!
Barbara