Plan B Forum

In recent years, models in their thirties and forties have been an increasingly common sight on billboards and catwalks. But at 53, Ines de la Fressange stands out even among this older bunch. The former Chanel model, who began her career in 1975, is joining L'Oreal's as the company's new "Paris Ambassadress".

An icon in her native France, de la Fressange has been a muse for both Karl Lagerfeld and Thierry Mugler, and in 1989 her likeness was used for a bust of Marianne, a French national symbol. More recently, she has turned her hand to design, creating her own label and helping to relaunch French footwear brand Roger Vivier.

As a spokesmodel for L'Oreal, she joins a diverse, but highly selective, group which includes Milla Jovovich, Beyonce Knowles, Diane Keaton and Eva Longoria.

loCAtek wrote:Whoa, baggy eyes are chic, who figured? ...but you weren't looking t her eyes. 'eh?

Gob wrote:and bend over...

When Laura Vikmanis' husband ran off with a younger woman, the 39-year-old knew she needed something to cheer herself up. Her two teenage daughters were growing up fast and she needed something to fill her new-found free time.

Then as she sat during the interval of a Cincinnati Bengals American football game watching the leaps and twirls of the young cheerleaders, her sister came up with an idea. Three years on, Laura is a bona fide Ben Gal, and - at 42 - the oldest cheerleader in American sport.

She began by trying out for the Ben Gals straight away, but was turned down at her first audition. She said: 'It was very intimidating. I was literally 20 years older than most of the girls.' But she spent the next year fine-tuning her moves and returned to beat off hundreds of girls half her age to earn her place in the nationally-famous Ben Gal cheerleading troupe.

'I was at a point in my life where I was like, "what do I really want to do? What's something in my life that makes me happy?" 'My family, I think at first when i told them I was going to try out, they were like, "Oh yeah, that's something fun to try." 'But when I made it they were in tears.'

NFL cheerleading training and routines are so physically demanding that they have been compared to joining the Marines.

New Line Cinema, who made such films as the Hobbit and the Sex and the City films, heard about her story and immediately signed her up to a movie deal. The script is to be written by Emily Cook and Kathy Greenberg, whose credits include Gnomeo & Juliet and Ratatouille. 'In her real life, it was easy to find a way into the story,' Cook said. 'She is a 42-year-old in a sea of 20-year-olds; she's definitely a fish in out of water. It's a great contrast. And she proved you can reinvent yourself at any age.'


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