As Silverfox agency closes its doors, managing director Rebecca Swaney talks to Viva about where to next for older models and actors in New Zealand.
“This has never just been about modelling. It’s been about visibility. Confidence. Relationships. Changing the narrative. And that doesn’t end here.”
Those were
the words managing director Rebecca Swaney penned earlier this month, for the announcement she was closing Silverfox, an agency representing models and actors aged between 30 and 90.
The decision to close the business comes following Silverfox’s most successful year. In the past 12 months, Swaney says Silverfox has seen the highest model fees in the agency’s history.
She spent some time looking for a buyer before making the decision to shutter.
A combination of workload and personal circumstance – last year, her mother was diagnosed with dementia – led her to the decision.
“In many ways, Silverfox was the thing that kept me buoyant … To be honest, I think I ran out of steam last year.
“All my models will go off and do amazing things. The world just keeps continuing … we are an important part in it, but we’re just a part.”
Silverfox Management was originally founded in Sydney in 2015 by model Brigitte Warne and PR expert Georgia Branch. The aim was to represent models and talent over 30 years old – they stumbled upon the idea when the two were laughing about the absurdity of Brigitte, who was in her mid-20s at the time, being categorised as a ‘mature’ model.
The business grew across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Byron Bay and New Zealand. In 2017, Warne and Branch, who are based in Sydney, decided to see if they could find a buyer for the Silverfox license for Aotearoa New Zealand.
After a varied career working in administration, promotions and presenting (she was the face of Harrisons for more than 12 years), Swaney was looking to manage her own business. A broker introduced her to Silverfox, suggesting her background was well-suited to model and talent management. At first, she was surprised.
Rebecca Swaney, the managing director of Silverfox.
“If someone had said, ‘you’re going to have a modelling and talent agency …’ I was like, that’s just crazy,” she tells Viva.
“I pushed it away for a few months. It just kept nudging me.”
Convinced by the mix of creativity and structure Silverfox offered, Swaney bought the licence and started building up the books. It was a moment that changed the way she perceived her own skillset.
“Little Rebecca doing secretarial work for what I thought was way too long, but actually, it was a really core strength of mine.”
Swaney, who is 58, says she connected strongly with the purpose of Silverfox. She saw similar gaps for representation within NZ that Warne and Branch had noticed in Australia.
“It was a no-brainer. I started to realise there was a hole in the market.”
Rewa Harker on the runway for Campbell Luke at New Zealand Fashion Week: Kahuria 2023. Photo / Getty Images
The reception from both industry and audiences was almost exclusively celebratory, Swaney says. There was just one unpleasant phone call, where someone made a case against Silverfox’s mission because they weren’t interested in seeing mature models in campaigns.
“I was like, you are just not getting it … It was just the typical person stuck in that rut.”
Silverfox models have been prominent faces within local fashion and the broader media landscape. They’ve walked runways for New Zealand Fashion Week: Kahuria and Australian Fashion Week and fronted major campaigns.
“My favourite thing was when brands wanted to mix the age groups in a campaign. It’s just so glaringly obvious – the beauty of different-looking women and how they complement each other,” Swaney says.
For Rewa Harker (Ngāti Kahungunu), the agency provided an unexpected avenue to a whole new career. She walked NZFW’s runway for Campbell Luke, starred in advertising campaigns and featured on a Viva cover. (The latter happened within her first week of signing with the agency).
Rewa Harker for Viva in 2019. Photo / Babiche Martens
“Silverfox has changed my life in the most positive ways,” Harker says. “I celebrate my age, my wrinkles and all that comes with getting older. It’s fantastic to be in an industry where I can contribute to exposing older women in such a positive way, making us visible and still relevant.
“[Rebecca] has become a dear friend for life and gave me a modelling career I didn’t imagine.”
Since the closure, with Swaney’s encouragement, Harker has found representation with Red Eleven. She senses a change within the wider industry.
“Early on, I sometimes felt a little out of place amongst all the young, gorgeous models but I feel brands are evolving and embracing older models.”
Still, Harker says the industry will feel the absence of an agency that specifically champions models over 30.
“It’s such a loss,” she says.
Amanda Bransgrove on the runway for Mastani at Australian Fashion Week 2024. Photo / Getty Images
Veteran model and WoolTraceNZ founder Amanda Bransgrove says Silverfox felt like a “sisterhood”.
In 2017, the agency encouraged her to return to modelling at 57, after taking a three-year break from the profession to reset and reconsider. At Silverfox, she connected strongly to the purpose of visibility.
“It smashes the glass ceilings society pretends don’t exist. Mature women have been erased from fashion, yet we hold the real purchasing power.”
She has gone on to walk in fashion weeks across New Zealand and Australia, work alongside creatives like Jasmine Sparrow, and star in campaigns for Shjark and Tronque.
“Silverfox handed me the platform to be unapologetically myself,” she says.
“It wasn’t just an agency. It was a reminder that we are still powerful, still desirable, still here.”
In the wake of the news of Silverfox’s closure, Bransgrove briefly considered stepping away from modelling but has now decided to continue, with the support of her peers – she is now working with both Unique Models and Monarch.
“Other agencies are now following suit, deliberately making room for mature women. Funny, isn’t it?”
Amanda Bransgrove on the runway for the opening showcase at New Zealand Fashion Week: Kahuria 2026. Photo / Supplied
When Swaney bought Silverfox, she represented 11 models. Over the seven years, it’s grown to more than 110.
The past few weeks have involved plenty of communications with other agencies, who are keen to get her talent on to their books.
Swaney is considering new opportunities within ageing and retirement.
“We are an ageing population. We’re all getting older. And ageing is hard. It’s really, really hard. So don’t make it harder on people – being made to feel more invisible the older they get.”
The news of the closure has been met with plenty of encouragement, and as Harker and Bransgrove say, Swaney has made her mark. She’s ready for what is next.
“I’m proud of myself … and it’s okay to go, ‘that’s not my journey anymore, I want to do something else.’ I think we forget how we can lean into other things and pivot.”
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