New York (CNN) — In a windowless room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Antonio Ratti Textile Center, several swaths of lace hundreds of years old are spread out on a giant expanse of black paper.

In a world where youth is often placed on a pedestal, Laetitia Casta chooses to break these codes. At 47, she poses for Vanity Fair with sophisticated simplicity, dressed in white lace. She proves ...