Undyeing love
The Silver & Sassy catwalk event in York celebrates women with grey, silver and white hair. Founders Rachel Peru and Annie Stirk talk to Stephanie Smith.
When the pandemic scuppered last year’s York Fashion Week, the Silver & Sassy catwalk event went with it, right at the last minute, and so too did all the hard work and enterprise of a brilliant team of women behind it.
Undeterred, founders Annie Stirk and Rachel Peru are restaging the event and have regathered their cohort of fellow models, all local women, to step out onto the catwalk at Goldsborough Hall next month, determined to celebrate the power of getting older and wearing grey, white and silver hair with pride.
Rachel, who has modelled for numerous UK and international fashion brands, says: “I first started noticing my grey hair as a teenager and, after a terrible ‘80s perm and grey roots, my school nickname became ‘Biddy’.
“When I decided to ditch the dye at 46, the initial response from others wasn’t overly positive, with lots of comments like ‘you’re too young to give up’. My silver hair has helped me to stand out in the modelling industry and you certainly don’t have to become invisible with grey hair.”
The Silver & Sassy event will be a celebration, too, of resilience. Annie says: “My mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer the day after lockdown was announced. She sadly died and we had to endure all the restrictions around the funeral that everyone else has had.