Model Maye Musk (C) is honoured by designers Younhee Park (L) and Lee Chung after walking the runway for the Concept Korea show during New York Fashion Week on September 8, 2017 in New York. (AFP Photo)
New York: The modeling world is often accused of worshipping at the fountain of youth, but at the grand old age of 69, Maye Musk, mother of Elon, is having a moment.
Mother of three and grandmother of 10, the silver-haired siren with luminous skin, who frequently breaks into laughter, is walking tall alongside a bevy of younger models at New York Fashion Week.
If it helps being the mother of the most lauded inventor-entrepreneur of his generation, valued by Forbes at $20 billion, then so does social media and the industry's gradual embrace of more diverse models.
She is determined to make the most of her moment in the sun. "Forever - until they stop calling!" she smiles when asked how long she plans to keep working, her 70th birthday looming next year.
Her's has been an extraordinary life. Musk has modeled since the age of 15 in South Africa where she migrated with her Canadian parents as a child. For decades she has worked as a nutritionist.
She married engineer Errol Musk and the couple had three children. Elon, 46, is the eldest, but all are remarkable. Kimbal, 44, has founded a chain of farm-to-table restaurants and daughter Tosca, 43, is a filmmaker.
She and her husband separated after nine years of marriage, and the period that followed was not always easy. After some years, she left South Africa and returned to Canada when Elon went there to study.
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