A Model Turn

Ukrainian model Alina Galushka is a slender 5’9”. She came to India in 2007 looking for openings in modelling and fashion and within a year bagged some plum assignments with top designers like Tarun Tahiliani and Rohit Bal,whose clothes she wore during Delhi Fashion Week. Alongside,Galushka worked as a manager for Inega Model Management in Delhi —the first entry point for foreign models who come to Delhi. Sensing an opportunity,she decided to open her own agency,focusing on assignments for foreign girls. Orange Models Management in South Extension opened in May and currently has four models from Ukraine and one from Los Angeles signed up with them. “There is a great demand for them since they are professional and beautiful,” says Galushka.

Fashion is big business. Advertising agencies,magazines and designers are constantly scouting for new faces. Foreign models are more uninhibited than their Indian counterparts and there seems to be no dearth of assignments for them. In the last year,several foreigners have opened agencies here,specifically for outsiders. Models Gunita Stobe and Mark Luburic,partners and founders of Anima Creative Management,began with one model after settling down in Delhi . A year later,the agency,based in Okhla,has a photography division and a hair and make up stylist on board. Luburic is Australian and has been based in Delhi since 2006. Currently,he handles six models from across Europe and India . “We want to bring a certain standard to the modelling industry in India by introducing fresh faces. We also want to take Indian faces to Europe,” says Stobe,a statuesque Latvian blonde. So far,two of their models —18-year-old Ashika Pratt from New Zealand and Gia Johnson Singh,a British Punjabi,have been selected for the Kingfisher calendar shoot — while Australian model Maddison McKay was the cover girl for Grazia in March and featured in the Provogue spring-summer 2009 campaign.

While Luburic has ferried the girls from the airport,Stobe comforts the models in their new surroundings,helping them settle in their apartments. “We issue information packages with details on work culture. Most of the time,girls don’t do their homework well and India can be a huge culture shock,so there’s a lot of hand-holding required,” says Stobe. Anima charges 30 per cent commission on assignments.

Meanwhile,this season,the models from Orange are a busy lot considering Galushka’s clients include luxury brand Pashma,photographer AJ Raina and cosmetic brand Emami. Recently,at the preview of designer Manish Arora,Tatiana Perkhovets,a waif-like Ukrainian was kitted out in a flashy pink dress while 24-year-old Talia Bentson from Los Angeles posed in a sheath. Meanwhile Anna Volska,24,looked svelte in a cream tunic at the Esprit flagship showroom in Select Citywalk for the launch of their autumn collection; Brazilian Myrelle Silva Da Ramos has featured in Men’s Health. Incidentally,Bentson,who is on a two-year contract with Orange,has also bagged a cameo in Julia Roberts’s starrer Eat,Pray,Love. In the upcoming Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week,of the 13 models selected,eight are foreign. “Over the last year,whichever magazine you open,many of the photo shoots feature foreign models,” says Sonalika Sahay,an Indian model based in Delhi. “They are fine with bolder shoots that many Indian girls are hesitant about.”