Runway success: Dame Helen Mirren struts her stuff on the catwalk once more

Multi-award-winning actress, Dame Helen Mirren, is no stranger to the spotlight and at 78 was looking simply fabulous decked out in silver sequinned glory at the L’Oréal Spring/Summer 2024 show in Paris last weekend.

A brand ambassador for L’Oréal since 2014, Mirren appeared in their Walk Your Worth event and walked hand-in-hand with fellow actress 25-year-old, Elle Fanning, who sported a plunging golden gown.

Joining them for the evening were also actresses Eva Longoria and 65-year-old actress, Andie McDowell, who looked positively panther-like in a black leather pantsuit.

X (formerly Twitter) exploded as the acting doyenne, sporting blown out wildly crimped silver locks, made her way down the catwalk:

elle fanning with helen mirren walking the runway for the l’oréal paris fashion show yesterday pic.twitter.com/DeGiBFsvsu

— best of elle fanning (@bestofmaryelle) October 2, 2023

Mirren, renowned for her influential and occasionally outspoken presence in the entertainment industry, boasts a career spanning several decades and a formidable collection of accolades, including an Academy Award, four BAFTA awards, four Emmys, and three Golden Globes.

She is most renowned for her standout performances in films such as The Queen (2006), for which she clinched an Academy Award, and The Last Station (2009), earning her an Academy Award nomination.

And when she is not setting the catwalk alight or delighting audiences with her chameleon-like film and TV appearances, she can be found pottering around her garden which she claims has made her a better actress.

In a recent interview with Dujour magazine, Mirren shared that her passion for gardening has not only enhanced her acting abilities but also helped her shed “ego and insecurity” citing the unpredictable nature of the natural world.

Mirren’s latest movie Golda (2023) was released earlier this year and reveals a much-changed Dame Helen. 

To play Israel’s first female Prime Minister, the actress donned a fatsuit and traded in her signature groomed blonde locks for straggly and wiry grey hair. She also wore contact lenses to change her eye colour.

Mirren’s transformation is so uncanny that one could argue the trailer feels like watching the real Meir herself as she led Israel through the tumultuous 1973 Yom Kippur War, when Egypt, Syria, and other Middle Eastern nations launched a surprise attack on the country.

Whether she is strutting her stuff on the catwalk or portraying one of history’s most influential female leaders, she certainly has the knack for self-reinvention.