RIO ON THE RAMP

Falco was shooting in Chile when her agency called her up with an assignment offer in India. The 22-year-old jumped at the idea and landed in Mumbai about a month back. Twenty-year-old Aline Lima from Minas Gerais, had been modeling across China, Philippines and Thailand, before she heard of the fashion industry in India. “It’s easier to blend here than say, in China, because we have a lot in common, in terms of how we look, as well as our culture,” she said.

In the short span that they have been here, work has not been difficult to come by. The girls have all featured in the recently concluded Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in the capital and there are other projects in the pipeline. “It’s much easier here than in Europe. We have to wait for considerable periods before we find work there,” said Falco.

In her one month here, Falco has done a fashion week, bagged a fashion show for international lingerie brand Triumph in November and walked the runway for Levi’s’ new range of jeans by designer Tarun Tahiliani in Mumbai. Borges featured as an extra in Madhur Bhandarkar’s latest release Fashion, and even though she admits that it adds little to her portfolio, the experience left her thrilled. Another 22-year-old, Carina Primavesi from Puerto Allegre, who is with Inega Modelling Agency, has been shuttling between Guwahati, Kolkata, New Delhi and Mumbai for shows in her month and a half in the country.

But ask them if they have Bollywood aspirations and the girls break out into laughter. “We would love to, but like an Indian model put it for us, we don’t have the hips, the moves or even the looks for it,” giggled the 5’11” model.

There’s a reason why the influx of foreign models in the country is at a premium now. “Their approach to fashion is more professional; their exposure has been extensive. They are much less inhibited, so assignments which require them to don a bikini or a swimsuit are easier than for Indian girls,” said Tseerin Namgyal of Inega Model Management. “They bring in a freshness. But if they are rank newcomers, you have to train them in everything from ramp etiquette to the basics of how to wear Indian clothes. The ones who come in with work experience, however, make a difference to the show,” said choreographer Vidyun Singh.

Apart from giving designers greater choice, veteran designer Ritu Kumar thinks foreign models also contribute to cost-effectiveness. “With so much happening in Indian fashion, you need more people and it’s reflected across the board, from choreographers, make-up artistes to models. Earlier designers would go abroad for campaign shoots. It’s become easier now because you can do the same thing in your own backyard,” she said.

Most of the girls come initially for a period of three months to check out the industry, and then depending on the volume of work they get, stay on for up to two years. They demand and get good money. For the fashion week in Delhi, most of these girls earned rates that were almost at par with top Indian models—about Rs 22,500 per day after a 30 per cent rebate to the Fashion Design Council of India for bulk assignments. But the amount goes down with individual shows where the girls earn anything between Rs5,000 to Rs 25,000, depending on their work experience. “It’s a little less than what the Indian girls earn, but the rates are at par with other parts of the world. The only difference is that we probably have to do three shows instead of one in India. But on the brighter side, the living expenses are much lower here,” said Silviera.

Walking runways in another continent comes with its baggage. In their case, it means hostile Indian models. “It’s understandable to an extent, because we are infringing on what’s really their domain. The designers and choreographers are fine with us, so I try taking it in my stride. That’s the only way to be professional,” said Silviera firmly. But some, like Primavesi, admitted it can be depressing. “I am a friendly person and I have tried to break the ice with the Indian girls, but they really seem to detest our presence. I once asked one of the older girls to stub out a cigarette because I was feeling claustrophobic and the make-up rooms are no-smoking areas. Instead, she blew a puff on my face,” she said, with a tinge of bitterness.

Once the arclights are switched off, survival in a foreign land takes on a new meaning. And the only family they have is each other. While Falco and Borges share a flat with two other Brazilians in Mumbai, Primavesi and Lima put up together in Lajpat Nagar, with a Czech girl.

Loneliness, the girls confided, is the most difficult thing to combat. “Telephone calls are very expensive, so we have to depend on the Internet. But there’s so much of a time difference that I feel guilty keeping my mother awake,” said Lima. “She doesn’t let me sleep nights with her constant prattle, but when it’s sound advice that I am looking for, Jacqueline is the one I turn to,” said Falco of Borges.

Primavesi goes travelling on her own, moving from Gwalior to Ujjain, from Guwahati to Lucknow, buying books on Hinduism, taking photographs to send to her younger sister back home, and surviving on naan and dahi. Borges goes around with little chits of paper in her purse, that have the names of the only few Indian dishes she can have: sada dosa and kalakand.

The glare of the strobe lights might be harsh at times, but these girls have their survival kits handy.