The Age Debate: Miuccia Prada’s Thoughts

Miuccia Prada has revealed the reason that she doesn't use older models for her campaigns and catwalk shows: because she isn't daring enough.

"Mine is not an artistic world, it is a commercial world," the 64-year-old explains when asked why her models are never from nearer her own age bracket - and that of many of her customers. "I cannot change the rules… Let's say I'm not brave enough. I don't have the courage."

Prada is known for sending the careers of many of her young campaign and catwalk models stratospheric, as the tastemaker's seal of approval often prompts other brands to enlist them too. She does note, from a personal perspective, that - "No one wants to age, and I really think we should find a solution. Especially because we live so much longer."

Miuccia Prada

But despite conforming to the fashion industry's expectation that she use young models, Prada reassured that she will continue to break any other aesthetic rule that takes her fancy.

"I have to do it," she told The Sunday Telegraph Magazine. "There is an understanding that, when I do a show, no one will tell me what to do. Once, at the beginning of my career, I tried to listen to others and it was all wrong."