Ageless beauty dies at 111

January 26, 2020

Irene Sinclair, whose image was displayed on billboards in New York Times Square, Berlin, London, Milan, Madrid and Paris after becoming a model in her late 90s, has died.

She was 111.

Believed to be Hackney’s oldest resident, Sinclair – who was on the May 11, 2006 cover of Share which is Canada’s largest ethnic newspaper -- migrated to England from Guyana in 1956.

In 2004, she became the oldest woman ever to appear in the ‘Dove Campaign for Real Beauty’ featuring women from age 22.

As part of Dove’s mission to ‘widen the definition of beauty’, an advertisement made the call to Sinclair’s North London retirement home to find out if they had a senior that could be considered for the role.

“They were looking for someone in their late 70s or early 80s, but there was no one at the residence who fitted the bill,” she said while vacationing in Toronto 14 years ago. “The manager told them he had a 96-year-old and the response was, ‘What are we going to do with someone that age’? He told them to come and see for themselves.”

Representatives from the ad agency were stunned when they showed up at her residence a few days later.

“When I opened the door, this lady asked me where my mother was and I told her to come in,” Sinclair, who has an 88-year-old daughter, recalled. “She was very shocked when she found out I was the person she had come to see. Two days later, I got a call saying I should go to the studio for a photo shoot.”

Running alongside the advertisement was the question, ‘Will society ever accept that old can be beautiful’? Next to Sinclair’s image were the words, ‘Wrinkled’ and ‘Wonderful’, and viewers were asked to judge her looks.

The response was overwhelming with Sinclair receiving almost 100,000 votes for being wonderful and another 20,000 for her wrinkles.

Inspired by her story, Oprah Winfrey invited the ageless beauty to appear on her talk show in 2005.

Sinclair politely declined, citing her busy schedule that included caring for a great grandchild and a trip to Spain.

Raised in Corentyne, a rural suburb, and Georgetown which is Guyana’s capital, she taught English History before going to England to assist her daughter who had just given birth.

In 2000, Sinclair was the only Black woman invited to attend Queen Elizabeth’s 100th birthday.