FORMER Yves Saint Laurent model Lesley MacLennan, 85, showed she still had her sparkle when she posed for acclaimed fashion photographer James Muller.

Lesley, who lives at Huntington House in Hindhead, met James, who lives in Farnham, when he was visiting a friend at the home.

He was immediately captivated – and delighted when she agreed to do a photo shoot with him.

Lesley worked closely with designer Yves Saint Laurent in her 20s – then an emerging designer – and later with him at Dior, both on the catwalk and in front of the camera.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the photo shoot,” she said. “James made me feel perfectly at ease, he was the real McCoy. I would have said so if he wasn’t. The red and black outfit was so vibrant, it was stunning.”

James said: “I met Lesley in passing and thought how amazing it would be to capture her beauty again. When I asked her to look my way or turn her face, she did it with such grace – an absolute professional.

“She was very easy to direct. I kept wanting to bring her beautiful hands into the frame and every time I asked her to, she did so with poise.

“I feel very honoured to have photographed Lesley. She has lived such a colourful life and to be a small part of it is magical. Age to me is just a number. During our shoot, Lesley was ‘that’ model again. Age made no difference.

“I think there aren’t enough older models in the media. In many ways, social media is telling us it’s wrong to age, but it’s such a natural thing.

“There is so much beauty in ageing too – we’ve just been taught to look at it the wrong way. ”

Charlie Hoare, director of the Huntington and Langham Estate, said: “To see Lesley back in front of the camera was just incredible – she’s never lost her sparkle. Finding a sense of purpose at any stage of life is incredibly powerful, and for those living in a care environment it can have huge benefits for their wellbeing.”