Daphne Selfe, World’s Oldest Working Fashion Model, Dies at 97

NEED TO KNOW

• Daphne Selfe, the oldest professional model, died on March 21, 2026, at age 97

• The British model was declared the oldest professional female model by Guinness World Records in 2023

• She got her start in fashion modeling at 21 and returned in her 70s after decades away, finding greater success by embracing her age

Daphne Selfe, the oldest professional model in the world, has died. She was 97.

Selfe, who Guinness World Records declared the oldest professional female model in 2023, died on Saturday, March 21, according to a death announcement shared to her Instagram account two days later, on Monday, March 23.

The British model — who worked with major fashion houses, appeared in numerous fashion magazines and strutted many catwalks — died in a residential care home, her daughter Rose Wordsworth confirmed to The New York Times.

In a tribute, the model’s family shared on Instagram on Tuesday, March 24, they revealed that she worked her final gig in June 2025.

“She rose peacefully and purposely towards the light, as only the sensational model in her knew how, in the sunshine of a beautiful spring equinox afternoon,” the tribute read. “Her final working day was last June when she graced the Vogue luncheon at Royal Ascot Ladies Day. What a way to bow out, fashion, people, and horses… her main loves.”

“She will continue to inspire, always and forever,” the tribute concluded, along with a signoff from: “Her children, Mark, Claire and Rose, and Grandchildren Jack, Alec, Grace and Robin.”

Selfe was born in London in July 1928 to a classics teacher father and opera singer mother and grew up in Berkshire, England, per The Times.

She got her start as a model at age 21, after a scout spotted her at her department store job and encouraged her to enter a competition to appear on the cover of a local outlet, which she won, per the outlet.

After a few years in the business, she married TV studio manager Jim Smith in 1954 and left the industry to focus on raising their kids, according to The Times. While she left fashion modeling during this time, she did model for a sculptor, appeared in commercials and had small appearances in a few James Bond films.

Shortly after Smith’s death in 1997, however, she returned to the industry in full force, walking in London Fashion Week and shortly thereafter, signing to one of the biggest modeling agencies in the world, London-based Models 1.

Reflecting on her grand return to the industry in a 2017 interview with BBC Three Counties Radio, Selfe said she “had more modeling success since I was 70 than I ever did when I was 20,” per The Times. “I became successful when I embraced my age and went gray,” she said at the time. “It made me more striking.”

The model also penned a memoir in 2015, titled The Way We Wore: A Life in Clothes.

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In a 2023 interview with The Telegraph, Selfe opened up about the secrets of her longevity, attributing her good health to a number of obvious things like exercising and eating “plenty of vegetables,” along with a few quirks.

“I like a glass of champagne,” the then 95-year-old model told the outlet. “Only occasionally, if it’s somebody’s birthday. Or my birthday.”

At the time, Selfe also told The Telegraph, “I’m a great one for socialising, and getting my friends together, even if it’s only for a coffee. And I do like to have a party.” It’s something the British model did shortly after the 2023 interview, when she attended the Royal Variety Performance and spoke with Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Per the Independent, the Prince of Wales asked Selfe when she retired, and Selfe told him she hadn’t — which the royal reportedly said was “amazing.”

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