The beauty and fashion industries have long dictated what's deemed acceptable or desirable. And now that we're in an age of inclusiveness where does that leave women and the question of ageing?

How do you feel about getting older? This is a question that might arise when you look in the mirror and see a line or two around your eyes for the very first time. The only question is, why do so many of us worry about ageing when it's a fact of life, and it's eventually going to happen to all of us anyway?

The beauty and fashion industries have long dictated what's deemed acceptable or desirable. Beauty products are marketed at women and the need for a more youthful appearance, and it's rare to see older women in fashion campaigns wearing the same clothes you might see on a model who is half, or even a third her age. The same goes for the runway.

So are older women invisible? And if so, who decides the terms of their visibility?

Kiwi model, Mercy Brewer from Unique Model Management is in her fifties and still models today, whether it be strutting her stuff at New Zealand Fashion Week, or featuring in campaigns. Brewer doesn't feel that older women have been shunned from society necessarily, but acknowledges they don't make an appearance as often as they should.

"Certainly they become invisible in cinema and magazines," she says.

Brewer was recently shot for Lonely Lingerie, a covetable New Zealand brand renowned for using 'real' women in their campaigns. It is a strategy that has proven to work, making them ever-accessible in a genre that has traditionally featured only slender, young women with perfect bodies.

The model says she was flattered to be asked to appear in the campaign. But adds that her 27-year old daughter now feels anxious about the popularity of an 'older female trend' especially at a time when older women like like Lynn Slater aka Accidental Icon are accruing thousands of followers on Instagram and redefining fashion and illustrating that being stylish and enjoying fashion isn't purely for young people.

Brewer says modelling today feels no different to when she was walking on the international runway in the mid-eighties as a younger woman.

"If anything there's less pressure. I'm booked for what I am, so I'm not worried about I'm starting to get wrinkles," she says.

Brewer knows first-hand that the fashion industry and modelling is about presenting a world of fantasy. Behind the scenes there is team of people who transform often ordinary girls into extraordinary beings.

"People aren't buying that dream anymore," she says…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details