When she was 16, Naomi Janumala was spotted by Gunita Stobe of Anima Creative Management, a Mumbai based modelling agency that pitches Indian models to worldwide fashion houses like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada and Fenty. At 19-year old, the same dark-skinned girl who was ousted by major ramps in the country because of her dark skin, is now the face of Rihanna’s iconic fashion brand, Fenty’s clothing line. Popular international Indian-born models Bhumika Arora and Pooja Mur success stories started to be written once the Indian fashion industry decided they weren’t fair-skinned enough.
The number of Indian male models on the glittering ramps of London and Milan is also rising at an exponential rate. Pratik Shetty, for example, recently walked for MSGM at the Paris Fashion Spring/Summer 20, bagging 15 shows during the fashion week and closing it in style for Lanvin. Tuhir Brahmbhatt had his exclusive debut on the professional ramp with Louis Vuitton. According to international fashion guides, there is a surplus of Indian male models, who aren’t given deserving platform back home. “In India, male modelling is not even considered as a real job. I am valued more in Europe than in my country,” says Brahmbhatta.
The story is the same for increasing number of male and female models in the country, who are making a tremendous portfolio for themselves and bagging superior chances worldwide. Fashion experts have highlighted two concrete factors for this positive growth- one, the rejection of most dark skinned models in the country and two, fashion houses in the west expanding their ramps beyond Caucasian models and accepting more ethnic groups. “When we go for our meetings at Paris, New York, London or Milan, everyone we meet there knows all our models by their names and what they have achieved versus our own market where even professionals remember models by their physical attributes. We are talking about inclusivity yet we don’t practice basic inclusivity in our own industry. Indian fashion really needs to diversify,” says Stobe.
