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Runway goddess at 69, and Elon Musk's mom!

September 12, 2017 08:00 IST

The Tesla founder's mother Maye Musk is who we all want to be when we grow up.

Pssst... Even New York Fashion Week can't get enough of her!

Elon Musk's mother Maye Musk

Maye Musk walks the runway for the Concept Korea fashion show at New York Fashion Week.
Fun fact: She has become wildly popular in South Korea!
Lead photographs: Theo Wargo/Getty Images and Danny Moloshok/Reuters.

Supermodels Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid walked down the runway together.

Kendall Jenner even picked up the Daily Front Row's 'Fashion Icon of the Decade' Award.

Supermodel sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid also walked down the runway together.

But the model everyone at New York Fashion Week can't get over is a 69-year-old mother of three and grandmother of 10.

She is Maye Musk. Yes, the very same Musk. She is the mother of Tesla founder Elon Musk.

Elon Musk's mother Maye Musk

Maye Musk with her children -- Elon, the eldest, is the fonder of Tesla; Kimbal, her second son, is the founder of a chain of farm-to-table restaurants, and her daughter Tosca, 43, is a filmmaker.
Photograph: @mayemusk/Instagram.

Maye Musk started modelling when she was 15. Those were the 60s and, as she told The Hollywood Reporter, 'I was told it would all be over by 18. So, this is a complete surprise, a happy surprise at 69.'

For decades, she has worked as a nutritionist and as a model.

'She's appeared on billboards in Times Square in commercials for Virgin America and Target,' AFP said, adding Musk's revelation: 'Nobody knew it was me because I did not have a name out.'

Things are different now. Musk is a world famous name, and Maye has been signed on by IMG, one of the world's top modelling agencies and one that manages names like Gisele Bundchen, Mirande Kerr, and Stephanie Seymour.

Elon Musk's mother May Musk

Maye Musk backstage with designer Lee Chung Chung before her New York Fashion Week show on September 8, and later on stage with Lee Chung Chung and designer Younhee Park.
Photographs: @liecollection_/Instagram and Theo Wargo/Getty Images.

Maye Musk told AFP, 'I appreciate every last bit. All the people really love us [older models]. I think designers are figuring that out... They just want to show there is diversity and that they appreciate older women and why not? Everybody has a mother and a grandmother.'

And according to her Instagram bio, she is #justgettingstarted.

Scroll down to get a full measure of Maye Musk's awesomeness...

Grey hair, don't care

Elon Musk's mother Maye Musk