Despite 11 new models (all of whom are in their 20s) debuting at the ongoing Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, the limelight still seems to be completely focussed on the crop of ‘established’ models. Proving to be a favourite with the designers on the runway are the likes of Noyonika Chatterjee, who’s in her 40s (sources say she’s 45 years old, though she refused to confirm her age), Carol Gracias, 33, Bhawna Sharma 33, Nethra Raghuraman, 35 and the likes.
“The older girls carry the garments off so much better,” says designer James Ferreira. “The older models have better bodies and are a lot fitter than the new, especially foreign, models. Some of them couldn’t even fit the model size garments for my show,” says designer Gaurav Jai Gupta. Some feel that older models add star value to Fashion Week. “We need models that can be considered stars in their own right to lend a mass appeal to fashion. After all, that’s what Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell etc do for labels aboard and the older girls certainly provide this factor” says fashion choreographer Harmeet Bajaj.
E-Paper
