83-year-old Russian granny appears in Vogue Italia because 'femininity does not pass with age'

March 11, 2021 3 min read

Lidia Tuchkova , 83, a resident of the Russian city Chelyabinsk, after overcoming COVID-19, appeared in the online edition of Vogue Italia .

The images were not originally taken for the purpose of appearing in the magazine. The photographer Sasha Samatova did a family photo session on the occasion of International Women’s Day , and from there came the image of the tender and strong grandmother.

“Lidia Tuchkova was crying, worried all the time. I told her that I had everything ahead of her and I convinced her that she could be a model ”, the photographer told RIA Novosti. In addition, he commented that it is his first collaboration with a fashion magazine.

“I decided to send a photo, March 8 was approaching and therefore it was perfect: two daughters, a mother, a grandmother and a granddaughter, all with bright colors and flowers. They looked very cute as well as festive, ”explained Sasha.

Evguenia Tuchkova, Lidia’s granddaughter, explained that her grandmother worked in a library all her life, but that at the end of 2020 she was in poor health due to COVID-19. “ My grandmother had 60% lung damage , we were afraid this would be a one-way trip with no return. But, fortunately, it ended well, the grandmother was cured and we convinced her to participate in a photo session, ”she explained to local media .

“We have been dreaming for a long time of a photoshoot of this style, with the four generations of women in the family,” said Evguenia. The participants were the grandmother Lidia, her daughter, her two granddaughters and a great-granddaughter.

^{Image: Sasha Samatova}

The photos were a success, so much so that they gave Sasha, the photographer, permission to use them, yet they never thought they would end up in such a popular magazine.

“My grandmother was worried throughout the photo shoot: ‘Oh, I’m so old, ‘ but we wanted to show that femininity does not disappear with age, and neither does beauty, ” added the model’s granddaughter.

^{Image: Sasha Samatova}