(Vienna) “It’s over, grannies sitting around doing nothing,” says Brigitte Hrdlicka, 63, busy with the final touches before the spectacular retirement parade at Vienna Fashion Week.
With a sure step and a haughty gait, these models for a day, aged between 60 and over 80, paraded on the catwalk on Tuesday, the joyous finale of a project lasting several months that is unprecedented in Austria.
“We have lots of things to show,” explains the former hospital worker, leaning over her sewing machine and surrounded by racks full of multi-coloured fabrics, made from second-hand materials.
To get their hands dirty, the apprentices who imagine everything from A to Z, even the drawings, had the honor of receiving unique creations offered by four Viennese brands, delighted to be associated with the process.
As an advisor, they were able to count on Irina Reichel, who has been running sewing workshops in retirement clubs in the city for several years and who this year had the idea of setting foot in the very closed world of fashion.
“To have these ten ladies parade is to take a stand against ageism and for social inclusion: look how they sparkle with joy of life, with pleasure,” she says with a smile, pointing to the participants, each more elegant than the last.
Diversity
PHOTO JOE KLAMAR, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Evening wear, leopard print, sailor top and even an orange wedding dress as the highlight of the show… There is something for all tastes and sizes.
Red carpet, cocktails and petits fours: the show has nothing to envy from those of the other houses in the hometown of the famous designer Helmut Lang. Except that here, the models wear their creations, smiling from ear to ear, each with their own personality.
Evening wear, leopard print, sailor top and even an orange wedding dress as the highlight of the show… There is something for all tastes and sizes.
“I would like to be like them at their age: that’s what the younger ones say” who are very admiring of the project, says the head of Fashion Week, Zigi Mueller-Matyas, welcoming the evolution of the fashion world towards more diversity.
Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer… it is no longer rare to celebrate women of all ages, whether in Paris, New York or Milan.
In the audience, Verena Heger, who has been retired for two years, finds the initiative “great”. “Just because you’re over 60 doesn’t mean you do old-fashioned things!” she insists.
“Modernity” has no age, she said, before a flamboyant septuagenarian with boyish red hair took off in turn to applause, wearing a transparent blouse revealing a black bra.