“We’re expected to look exactly the same as we did when we were young. It’s like we’re not allowed to age”: 80s supermodel Kim Alexis speaks out about the pressure to “stay beautiful”

Kim Alexis was one of the defining blondes of the 1980s — a face instantly recognizable on the covers of Sports Illustrated, Vogue, and Cosmopolitan. She walked for Gucci and Ralph Lauren, worked alongside Christie Brinkley, Janice Dickinson, and Paulina Porizkova, and seemed to embody an era where beauty was currency and youth was a prerequisite for survival in the industry.

Today, Kim is 64, living in Arizona and raising three children. And she’s speaking openly about something few models of her generation dare to address. In a new Instagram post, she admitted that the pressure to “stay young and beautiful” doesn’t disappear — even after decades away from the runway.

“People sometimes ask me how to deal with that pressure. It’s a real question,” she wrote over one of her photos. “Aging is inevitable. You have to let go of what you can’t control and make peace with it.”

In the video she shared, the supermodel explains that beauty isn’t about makeup or flawless skin, but about inner calm, a sense of purpose, and the joy with which you choose to live your life. “How we choose to show up in the world — that’s what truly makes us shine,” she said.

Alexis rarely appears in public anymore — and that, too, is intentional. Last year she told People Health that she finally began to feel comfortable only after accepting the changes in her body and her health. Hypothyroidism, menopause, weight fluctuations — all of it took a toll not just physically, but on her desire to remain in the public eye.

“We’re expected to look exactly the same as we did when we were young. It’s like we’re not allowed to age. It’s unfair,” Kim said.

And yet, despite the changes that come with age, she looks noticeably younger than her years — and stresses that she’s never had any plastic surgery or injectables. “And I never will,” she says. According to her, age has brought more confidence and wisdom than she’s ever had before.