Editor’s Note: Model of the future

At a time when my profession of choice, journalism, has gone from being one with the gold star for respectability to one that inspires animated memes, I rue about another profession that’s in the public eye just as much: modelling

At a time when my profession of choice, journalism, has gone from being one with the gold star for respectability to one that inspires animated memes, I rue about another profession that’s in the public eye just as much: modelling.

This year’s list of India’s Top 50 Models is fronted by 20-year-old Avanti Nagrath (Augustin Michaud)

To be a “model” equates being perfect even without the modalities of the work it entails. Models are, in common belief, the most perfectly created humans on earth. Which is why fashion designers want them to be the first to try on their newest clothes, brands want them to showcase a lifestyle that’ll sell products, and as the audience, we look at them with aspiration and for inspiration.

The HT Brunch 50 Top Models issue has always challenged taboos and put forward new perspectives on fashion and modelling

But, what happens to models when the idea of perfection undergoes a change?

Without intending to, the HT Brunch India’s Top Models issues for the last five years have chronicled just that.

In the first edition, we led with India’s timeless faces, Lakshmi Rana and Sonalika Sahay, both of whom continue to shine on the fashion runway

In the first edition, we led with India’s timeless faces, Lakshmi Rana and Sonalika Sahay, both of whom continue to shine on the fashion runway and show that, in between all its anomalies, the fashion industry cannot be blamed for being ageist. We then celebrated Ahmedabad boy Tuhir Bhrahmbhatt, Hyderabadi Mustafa DG and London-based Amar Direnzo, all barely out of their teens, who were the first to put “the Indian look” out on the runways in Milan and Paris.

In 2019, the editor of fashion publications like Vogue, Elle and Bof led with their opinion.

2020 and 2021 were the game-changers, in my opinion: they showed that the new beautiful was not judged by skin tone, body structure or gender, and celebrated personal expression and the fluidity that is the future.

In 2018. we had Ahmedabad boy Tuhir Bhrahmbhatt, Hyderabadi Mustafa DG and London-based Amar Direnzo

This year’s list of India’s Top 50 Models is fronted by 20-year-old Avanti Nagrath, who surprised herself when she was personally picked by Donatella Versace to open one of the most prestigious shows at Milan Fashion Week this year. For those who do not know, “to open” means to be the first model to walk the ramp, and our girl Avanti got picked from among the likes of Gigi and Bella Hadid.

Join us as we reveal her ambitions and insecurities, but do not forget to peruse just as carefully the 49 others on the list. They now include fashion content creators on social media whose influence is so vast and sudden, they’re called “influencers.”

2020 and 2021 were the game-changers: they showed that the new beautiful was not judged by skin tone, body structure or gender, and celebrated personal expression and the fluidity that is the future

Enjoy!

Also in this issue: sparked off by an Amul ad, two feminists debate whether the depiction of our thinking is sexist.

Rajeev Masand picks on the movies being selected as India’s entry to the Oscar’s: would RRR have been a better choice, or is the poignant Chhello Show the one?

And Vir Sanghvi takes us to Sicily and shows us the land of Don Corleone.

Jamal Shaikh is the National Editor – Brunch and New Media Initiatives, Hindustan Times

Follow @JamalShaikh on Twitter and Instagram

From HT Brunch, October 15, 2022

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