You may be more familiar with her as Professor McGonagall or Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, but Dame Maggie Smith has a new role… as a fashion model. The Harry Potter and Downton Abbey actor appears in Loewe’s latest advertising campaign, modelling a series of looks from SS24. Shot by Juergen Teller, the images are a refreshing reminder that true style is ageless.
She’s one of our best-loved actors, with over 130 films and plays and an array of Emmys and Academy Awards to her name. And now Dame Maggie Smith has added another feather to her cap. The 88-year-old stage and screen star is the face of Loewe’s new SS24 pre-collection campaign, photographed by Juergen Teller.
The octogenarian – who has starred in everything from the Harry Potter franchise to Downton Abbey – appears in the latest campaign for the Spanish fashion house alongside actors Greta Lee, Dakota Fanning and Josh O’Connor, and singer Taeyong. Though they’re all at least four decades younger than her, it’s Smith that steals the show.
The campaign spotlights the classic Loewe bag silhouettes. In one image Smith wears a two-toned shearling coat, clutching the iconic Puzzle bag in bottle-green; in another she is in a dark blue silk shirt dress, a Puzzle Fold tote in hand. Shot against a plain brick background, Teller ensures that the clothes and the star take centre stage. A third photograph sees Smith sitting on a brightly hued striped sofa, which highlights her crisp monochrome dress, a burgundy Paseo bag perched on her knee.
Fashion has well and truly fallen in love with women in their 80s. Since Céline photographed then 80-year-old writer Joan Didion in a pair of sunglasses and polo neck in 2015, Catherine Deneuve has reappeared in an advertising campaign for Saint Laurent, aged 80. Vanessa Redgrave, now 86, is regularly pictured FROW. And a few weeks back, during London Fashion Week, Mary Berry, 88, was photographed in Norman’s Cafe wearing a blue-and-white print scarf for Burberry’s new advertising.
But this latest campaign from Loewe succinctly captures Anderson’s fresh approach to luxury, and the message remains clear: fashion knows no boundaries. Ageless style is here to stay.
