Senior models in demand as population ages

Christine Telger a former teacher, turned her attention to modeling after she retired eight years ago. Her debut was a “before-and-after” shot for a cosmetics company.

“The photographer told me about modeling for seniors. I was interested from the start,” she told Der Spiegel’s career magazine.

Having gathered more experience, Telger is now getting numerous offers to attend castings and bookings for advertising. “It’s going really well,” she says.

But it’s not all glamour. Senior models have to put up with the same routines as their younger counterparts.

“You do have to take care if yourself,” says Telger, who goes to the gym twice a week and regularly gets her hair done. “If I get a booking, I have to look like I do on the photographs.”

One of the first to carve out a niche for older models was Christa Höhs, who set up a model agency for seniors in Munich back in 1994. She now employs 700 models between the ages of 30 and 94 and her clients are predominantly large international companies.

“Thank God, advertising’s obsession with youth is over,” she told the magazine.

The Federal Statistics Office predicts that by 2035 half of the German population will be over 50. For advertisers, that means investing more in products – and campaigns – which speak to this demographic.

The Local/kkf