She’s on the deck of a yacht bobbing in the aquamarine waters off Formentera, wearing cut-off denim shorts and a tank over her black bikini. The breeze whips her long hair around her face as she plants a kiss on her beaming, deeply tanned beau. No, it’s not the newest ingénue being clamoured over by Hollywood execs, nor a twenty-something pop sensation topping the charts. It’s the 54-year-old former First Lady of France, Carla Bruni.
The model and mother-of-two, who is currently cruising the Med with her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy, is emblematic of the woman having the most aspirational of all the celebrity summers this year. She’s gorgeous, she’s carefree, and she’s north of 50. Forget blondes: in 2022, mid-lifers have more fun.
Take 64-year-old Sharon Stone, who in recent weeks has gone from owning the red carpet to posting sensational poolside shots. Then there’s Cindy Crawford, 56, who is holidaying at her family’s island retreat in Ontario, Canada, where she’s been zipping across the lake on a speedboat, devouring Liane Moriarty’s latest, and generally looking better than ever in her Melissa Odabash bikini. Her daughter Kaia Gerber put it best in her comment on Cindy’s swimwear snap: “Hot!”
Over on the continent, there’s been no escaping Jennifer Lopez’s summer of love: the past few weeks have been a blur of floaty Dresses, platforms, and Parisian PDAs for the 53-year-old newlywed, who has embarked on something of a European victory tour with Ben Affleck to celebrate their surprise Las Vegas weeding. The couple’s new life together is “a life that we have never had more reason to look forward to,” Jennifer said when they shared their news. “Stick around long enough and maybe you’ll find the best moment of your life in a drive-thru in Las Vegas at 12.30am in the Tunnel of Love,” she added. Which is… kind of specific, but certainly adds weight to the argument that the old “life begins at 40” adage is in dire need of updating.
Representing the Brits, there’s Liz Hurley, who at 57 continues to take her role as ambassador for her own resort wear line – which she founded in 2005 – extremely seriously. Hurley was last seen climbing aboard her yacht on an Instagram Reel (because feed posts are for old people), wearing a turquoise bikini that showed off a body many women half her age would die for. All we need now is for the ultimate swimsuit influencer, 55-year-old Salma Hayek, to start sharing her holiday snaps, and summer 2022 will be complete.
They may occupy a world that has traditionally fetishised youth, but these mid-lifers know that far from being past their prime, they’re in a glorious new phase of freedom. While their younger counterparts are busy building careers, navigating relationship angst or raising young families, they – having conquered their industries and helped their kids to fly the coop – can kick back and relax. Sure, they’re not the average fifty-something, what with their super yachts and their private jets and, in Carla’s case, their “unspeakable” exercise regimes. But even for ordinary mortals looking on from their economy airline seats, they serve as a happy reminder that life’s great pleasures – adventure, romance, posting a smoking hot bikini selfie – have no age limit.
