A Celebration of Women™

is elated to Celebrate the Life of this nominated doctorate, one woman that represents the power of determination, with a legacy for all women that is described as “a presence has helped redefine what society defines as beautiful”.

This powerhouse has made the beauty in a woman’s ‘beauty’ AGELESS !!!

 
 
 

WOMAN of ACTION™

 

 

Carmen Dell’Orfice

 
 
 
Carmen’s parents were Italian and Hungarian. They were constantly breaking up and getting back together. Because of this, Carmen lived in foster homes and sometimes with other relatives.

In 1942, Carmen reunited with her mother and moved to New York City. At the age of 13, while riding a bus to ballet class, she was approached to model by the wife of photographer Herman Landschoff. Her test photos, taken at Jones Beach, were a “flop” according to Carmen. Her godfather though introduced her to Vogue, where Carmen signed a contract for $7.50 per hour in 1946 at age 15. Carmen became a favoured model of photographer Erwin Blumenfeld who took her first Vogue cover in 1947. She appears in the December 15, 1947 issue of US Vogue as Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and Cinderella along with supermodel Dorian Leigh, actors Ray Bolger and Jose Ferrer.

Despite modeling, Carmen and her mother were poor. They had no telephone and Vogue sent runners to their apartment to let Carmen know about modeling jobs. She roller-skated to assignments to save bus fares. Carmen was so malnourished that famed fashion photographers Horst P. Horst and Cecil Beaton had to pin back dresses and stuff her body with tissue. Carmen and her mother were also accomplished seamstresses and made extra money making clothes. One of their customers was Dorian Leigh. Carmen would later become best friends with Dorian’s younger sister, model Suzy Parker. Together they would be bridesmaids at Dorian’s second wedding to Roger Mehle in 1948.

In 1947, Carmen got a raise to $10–$25 per hour. She appeared on the October 1947 cover of Vogue, at age 16, one of the youngest Vogue cover models ever (along with Niki Taylor, Brooke Shields, and Monika Schnarre). Carmen was also on the November 1948 cover of Vogue. She worked with the most famous fashion photographers of the era including Irving Penn, Gleb Derujinsky, Francesco Scavullo, Norman Parkinson, and Richard Avedon. Carmen was photographed by Melvin Sokolsky for Harper’s Bazaar in 1960.

The iconic image titled Carmen Las Meninas is world famous and has been collected internationally. Sokolsky also photographed Carmen for the classic Vanity Fair Lingerie campaign in which Carmen obscures her face with her hand. She also became Salvador Dalí’s muse.

Despite early successes at a very young age, modeling agent Eileen Ford refused to represent her and Vogue lost interest in her.

After doctors prescribed shots to start puberty, she instead started working for catalogs and lingerie, making $300 per hour. It was then that she joined Ford in 1953.

Carmen met and married Bill Miles in the early 1950s. Bill would pick up her weekly modeling checks at her agency and only give her $50 of them.

They had a daughter, Laura, and divorced soon after.

In 1958 she met photographer Richard Heimann and married him only six months later.She decided to retire and he promptly left her.

Her third marriage was to a young architect, Richard Kaplan, in the mid-1960s. Their marriage lasted nine years. Desperate, she decided to return to modeling in 1978 and continues to work to this day.

In the 1990s and 2000s, she modeled for Isaac Mizrahi’s clothing line at Target, as well as Cho Cheng and Rolex. Carmen is featured regularly in their advertising campaigns appearing in Vogue, W and Harper’s Bazaar.

In the late 1980s, Carmen was engaged to television talk-show host David Susskind. He died before they were married.

In 1993, a neighbor introduced her to Norman F. Levy, who was Bernard Madoff’s best friend. He was her boyfriend for several years.
 

In the modelling business, 30 is often considered old, but one American icon is still rocking the fashion world at the age of 80.

Carmen Dell’Orefice has been a Vogue cover girl many times and once posed for the artist Salvador Dali – during a 65-year career that is now the focus of an exhibition at the London College of Fashion.

BBC VIDEO HERE

 
TODAY MAGAZINE describes:
 
Octegenarian supermodel Carmen Dell’Orefice proved that she still has what it takes as she took the catwalk twice in one day at New York Fashion Week.

The 81-year-old New Yorker, who is known within the fashion industry for being the world’s oldest working model, looked effortlessly chic as she showcased two contrasting ensembles.

At 9am she walked for designer Norisol Ferrari wearing a vintage-inspired caramel gown, and then several hours later she changed venues and reemerged in a bold contemporary design by Finnish label Marimekko.

Sporting a smooth complexion and svelte figure the 5ft 10in silver-haired star certainly turned heads.

She was joined at both shows by 51-year-old American actress and model Carol Alt.

Talking about her current modelling career Ms Dell’Orefice told Today:

‘I don’t know if it’s good or silly.

It’s what I enjoy doing, and I’m able to do it.’

 
 
Manhattan-based designer Norisol Ferrari’s spring / summer 2013 collection featured looks that were reminiscent of 1940s glamour, and Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth and Rita Moreno were mentioned as inspirations in the show notes.

Meanwhile Marimekko’s line followed a bright and modern theme, with Ms Dell’Orefice walking barefoot in a long-sleeved technicolour jersey dress.

Corinne Nicolas, president of Trump Model Management, which represents Ms Dell’Orefice, said her presence has helped redefine what society defines as beautiful, telling Today: ‘I see our young models who will look at her and be mesmerized by her. She’s an idol.’
 
 

Carmen Dell’Orefice was joined at both shows by 51-year-old American actress and model Carol Alt – Together they had a combined age of 133 years

 

She added:

‘I think America may be growing up and accepting the fact that the bulk of life exists beyond 50.

Because demographically… the vast population is over 50.’

 
 
 

 
 
Carmen Dell’Orefice in “Plenitud”

 
 
In June 2011, Carmen celebrated her 80th birthday.

On July 19, 2011 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of the Arts London, in recognition of her contribution to the fashion industry. The university also presented a dedicated retrospective exhibition curated by illustrator and long-term friend David Downton, showing Carmen’s Vogue covers, some of her finest modelling moments, and photographs from her personal archives.

Dell-Orefice, who got her break on the cover of Vogue in 1947 aged 15, recently appeared along with other mature models, including Beverly Johnson, Carol Alt, Isabella Rossellini and Jerry Hall in the HBO film, About Face: The Supermodels, Then and Now.

The former glamazons of the Seventies and Eighties have given a revealing behind-the-scenes look into the dark side of their supermodel lives in a new documentary.

From drug overdoses, to rampant sexual harassment and blatant racism, the upcoming HBO film About Face: Supermodels, Then and Now, follows era-defining names like Jerry Hall and Paulina Porizkovastill who expose the industry’s ugly truths.

The film, while exposing the more regrettable elements the models faced daily, also gives insight into the vivacious personalities who have graced hundreds of covers over the past 40 years.

 
 

HBO Documentary Films: About Face – Supermodels… by HBO

Directed by renowned photographer and filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, About Face stars a who’s who from the top catwalks of the time, Isabella Rossellini, Jerry Hall, Marisa Berenson, Carol Alt, Karen Bjornson, Christie Brinkley, Pat Cleveland, Carmen Dell’Orefice, Bethann Hardison, Beverly Johnson, China Machado, Paulina Porizkova, and Lisa Taylor, who all add their two pennies to the impressive line up.

The documentary came about after Mr Greenfield-Sanders photographed the group of women for a feature in Vanity Fair.

The women’s rich stories – career moments and personal tales from the vanguard of society’s obsession with youth – were too good an opportunity for the fashion photographer to dismiss.

He told Vanity Fair what he learned while making the film, saying: ‘The film has two women who are in their 80s, and in those days, models were really considered hookers. You know, models were not what they are today, where it’s a very privileged profession.’

Still-stunning Carmen Dell’Orefice, now 81, lost her life savings to Bernie Madoff, while other models went on to marry rock and sports stars.

The documentary is a candid look into a very different era of fashion and beauty, however its stories continue to resonate today, with many models still facing the very same issues the film parses.

However in this age of pro-ana websites and designers who make ever-shrinking sample sizes, society looks back on the supermodel era as having a wholesome-looking ideal.

Carmen is a pioneer in this movement of change for our society’s fashion industry, allowing all women to be appreciated for their Beauty in all Ages, supporting a mission that our fashion icons are human beings that deserve appreciation, caring and respect for the work they do.

 
 
 

A Celebration of Women™

is elated to include this perfect example of perseverence and grace into our Alumni of WOMEN of ACTION™.

 

 

Brava Carmen!