Fordham University professor Lyn Slater was meeting up with her friend for launch during New York's fashion week. The foreign reporters mistook her for a fashion icon. She already had a Ph.D., an impressive career, so why not become a style icon for all ages?
More info: Accidental Icon, Instagram
Accidental Icon
The style icon with over 750K Instagram followers is 66, and her modeling days started just a few short years ago. Slater's signed with Elite London, and she's anything but your typical supermodel.
When she's not posing for Mango or Uniqlo, she's writing her blog, Accidental Icon, which is filling the gaps in the fashion industry and fighting age discrimination.
In an interview from 2016, she told Refinery29:
"I think, if you are comfortable in what you're wearing, no matter how old you are and you're owning it, you're going to look completely fine."
Petit, grey-haired, and fierce, this lady is far from anything we've seen in the fashion world for quite some time. Who knew that getting older could look so refreshing?
She's badass
Slater is a clinical associate professor of social work and law at Fordham University. She was never a fashionista, but the moment those reporters stopped her at the NYFW, she got intrigued.
She plans to retire and continue working both as a fashion model/influencer and as a speaker. Lyn told Bright Side:
"Fashion and my style help me struggle against that invisibility that comes with age."
She continued:
"I think clothing can profoundly change who you are and profoundly express who you are, better than words."
"I'm certain that if you feel comfortable in your own clothes, it's completely irrelevant how old you are."
Professor Lyn's fans are young women who are loving that badass, fierce attitude. She's too cool to give a damn and a symbol of "anti-anti-aging." She gets praised because she's rejecting society's norms while staying classy and keeping her head high.
Shattering stereotypes
Slater advises her young followers:
"Focus on the things you like about your body — make it your strength — and forget about the rest. The importance of showing who we are on the inside and not feeling the need to adhere to stereotypes."
The accidental icon sees aging with attitude as shattering stereotypes:
"It's time for a new outlook on what it means to be an older woman."
Instead of searching for impossible ways to stay forever young, Slater's all about being here, now, and your most authentic self. With some help from fashion experiments and lots of confidence!
There's comfort in knowing that you can reach your 60s, or 70s, and not be overlooked or shamed for getting older in a youth-obsessed culture. As for the professor, she is not retiring from the fashion scene in the next few decades.
