Fashion House's Hot New Face: Joan Didion, 80

She stars in Céline ad
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 7, 2015 1:04 PM CST
Fashion House's Hot New Face: Joan Didion, 80
Author Joan Didion reads through a list of questions she will be asked in her New York apartment, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007, before being interviewed.   (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

"Smart ladies are the new rock stars." That's the takeaway, as Soraya Nadia McDonald sees it in the Washington Post, of the fact that the new face of fashion house Céline is not, say, Gisele Bundchen, but rather writer Joan Didion, who is featured in a new ad. Designer Phoebe Philo, a longtime fan of Didion, said last year that "there is a bit of a political statement behind Céline, which is that we should be teaching young girls to feel good." She added, "I am not a big fan of women being sexualized through clothes."

Didion, 80, has always been seen as effortlessly chic, and she's still popular today—a Kickstarter raised more than double its goal to make a documentary of her life). "There is something incredibly satisfying to me to see a brilliant woman of her age being the face of such a major fashion brand," says another Didion fan, and Go Fug Yourself blogger, Jessica Morgan. "Essentially, it is so refreshing to be reminded that chic doesn’t have an age limit. (And smart on their part, as older women generally have more cash to blow on gorgeous bags and coats, too.)"

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X