Septuagenarian Model Finds Happiness on the Catwalk

Choi Soon-hwa

At 76 Choi Soon-hwa is one of Korea's oldest catwalk models, looking elegant with her silver hair at Seoul Fashion Week last year. A staffer at the Seoul Design Foundation said it was the first time that a model in her 70s appeared on stage but she proudly stood out among younger models in their 20s and 30s.

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"At first I thought of dying my hair black to look younger, but people said grey hair looks more sophisticated and elegant, and now it's my signature look", Choi recalls. 

Born in 1943 as the youngest of seven children, Choi moved to Seoul at the age of 20 with her older sister and briefly dreamed of becoming a model. But the whole family was struggling to look after an ailing father.

"I learned to be a nursing assistant and worked for four years in a hospital, but I quit after I got married", she says.

She spent the next four decades as a housewife but started working again as a carer at the age of 68 to do something productive with her spare time.

It was when she was 71 years old that her old dream was revived. A patient told her she would make a great model because she is tall and slim.

"For many decades I didn't look after myself. I didn't wear makeup, and had no heels to wear. I thought what can I do about it at this age? But for several days, I couldn't sleep thinking about the idea", she recalls.

Choi finally plucked up courage and signed up at a model school but did not tell her children at first. Even though she is 170 cm tall, she felt small standing next to young aspiring models.

But modeling gave her confidence. She usually wears flat heels, but when she goes to a model school once a week for walking practice she always brings 7cm heels. Her posture and general health have improved as well. She says one of her strengths is the fact that "I can express a wide range of emotions that life makes you go through in various ways".

"Working as a model has given me so much happiness and good health that no other medicine can give me. My dream now is to be on a global stage", she says.