Models over the age of 40 are the most wanted of the moment

Age is no longer a problem to be a catwalk model, we have seen this best in this "fashion month".

There were plenty of eye-catching moments at Paris Fashion Week, but at the shows hosted by Balmain, Vetements and Miumiu, the most striking aspects of the shows weren't the clothes on the runway, but the age of many of the models wearing them.

Balmain's show at Paris Fashion Week was a love letter from creative director Olivier Rousteing to his childhood home in Bordeaux. This very interesting collection had accessories of snail, twisted gold that hung from the ears and like belt buckles, metal handbags thrown in bunches of grapes, which were later served in minidresses encrusted with rhinestones.

But the most striking aspect of the show was not the clothes on the runway, but the age of many of the models wearing them. It was impossible to ignore that many of them were older in age, but they looked fantastic on stage.

In total, 20 of the 57 models were older than 35 years.

Mr Rousteing was not the only designer to feel this way. Thanks to growing pressure in the industry to improve representation, middle-aged and older women have become a more common sight on the runway. This season, however, it was impossible to ignore their growing numbers.

According to fashion search engine Tagwalk, roughly three-quarters of the top 20 runway shows in Paris and Milan featured at least one older model.

In New York last month, "Batsheva" selected only models over the age of 40.

Some of the older women on the runways were modeling legends, many of whom have now become runway regulars. At Vetements actress Marcia Cross, 61, best known as Bree Van de Kamp on the TV series "Desperate Housewives", closed the show.

At Miu Miu, Miuccia Prada chose actresses Kristin Scott Thomas, 63, and Ángela Molina, 68, but also Qin Huilan, 70, a Chinese doctor turned social media influencer from Shanghai. Ms Prada said her collection was an exploration of clothing from children to adulthood and in particular notions of girlhood.