Every August, Vogue’s annual Age Issue comes out, and this year the theme is “Second Acts.” The issue is all about transformation, whether that means a new career, or some other new direction in life. The women featured were photographed by Mario Testiono and Annie Leibovitz and include 26-year-old Alexa Chung, 37-year-old Gwyneth Paltrow, 46-year-old Christina Norman, and 78-year-old Lady Antonia Fraser.

Vogue editor Anna Wintour notes in her Letter from the Editor that transformation is inevitable in a woman’s life, partly because women “invariably inhabit numerous roles at the same time.”

Whether it’s becoming CED of Oprah Winfrey’s new television network (as Norman did), surviving bladder cancer as did 54-year-old Patti Hansen, or dealing with the changes after a husband’s downfall (as Japan’s First Lady Miyuki Hayotama had to), transformation is a chance to come out better for the challenge, regardless of age.

Credit: vogue.com