HOT CELEBRITIES: Kate Winslet, Gisele Bundchen, Adriana Lima, and the Rise of the thirty-something model: How the fashion industry is finally growing up

10th January 2012

The fashion industry has always been notorious for being obsessed with youth but it seems a new age is dawning.
While in the 'real' world, life now begins at 30, on the catwalk it is often considered time for retirement.
But a series of designers have been bucking the trend and hiring models in their thirties to star in Spring/Summer campaigns.

Dawn of a new age: Adriana Lima, 30, was chosen to front the Donna Karan Spring Summer campaign

Adriana Lima, 30, was chosen to front Donna Karan and Gisele Bundchen, 32, stars in the Versace and Salvatore Ferragamo ads.
Prada, YSL and Chanel have also eschewed baby faces in favour of more mature women in their thirties.
And it's not just older models that are currently in the spotlight.

Model behaviour: Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen, 32, stars in theSalvatore Ferragamo campaign and Mariacarla Boscono, 31, for YSL

Veteran: Saskia de Brauw, 30, models in the new Chanel campaign, shot by creative director Karl Lagerfeld

Monica Bellucci, Sharon Stone and Kate Winslet are just some of the stars who have been signed up to front big brands.
One reason for the wave is the emerging trend for ladylike, fifties-inspired fashion this season, which conjures the image of the older, more sophisticated woman.
An industry insider said: 'The use of older models is on the increase - designers are seeing the value in accomplished maturer models who bring personality and knowledge over inexperienced and often very young new faces.'

Return of ladylike glamour: Kate Winslet, 36, is the face of U.S label St. John

Mamma mia: Monica Bellucci, 47, plays the matriarchs for the spring 2012 campaign from Dolce & Gabbana

Meanwhile, much younger stars who are being made the face of campaigns have been causing controversy.
One Miu Miu advert showing 14-year-old actress Haillee Steinfeld sitting on a railway track was last year banned for suggesting youth suicide.
The Advertising Standards Authority said: ‘Because the ad showed Hailee Steinfeld, who was 14 years of age only when the photo was shot, in a potentially hazardous situation sitting on a railway track, we concluded the ad was irresponsible and in breach of the Code in showing a child in a hazardous or dangerous situation.

Controversy: Hailee Steinfeld, 14, starred in a Miu Miu ad that was banned as was Dakota Fanning, 17, for Marc Jacobs

‘The ad must not appear again in its current form.’
And Marc Jacobs attracted criticism earlier this year with the decision to use 13-year-old Elle Fanning in his advertising campaign.
Daily Mail fashion director Liz Jones said: 'I find it obscene that children of 13 and 14, no matter if she is a star, no matter how sophisticated, are used to peddle designer fashion, surely as bad for teen girls as smoking or underage sex.'