After the ramp lights switch off, the big names of India’s modelling world walk into a second life—as entrepreneurs, businessmen and people with more than just hot bods
Looking good is hard work. It does not—never mind apologias from the fashion world—make demands on the brain. And after the nth session of sizzling the runway and pouting sexily into the light, it does turn into a drag. So what are our beautiful people to do? Sashay into Bollywood? No, there are more answers blowing in the wind.
One of India’s leading ramp models Fleur Xavier has found hers. A year ago, she started her interior decoration firm, Fleur Space Style, in Mumbai. Xavier calls it her long-overdue wish-fulfillment.
If you step inside the executive lounge of the buzzing Mumbai airport, you’ll know Xavier knows her business. From the luxurious sofas that blend with the chintz curtains to the wood-panelled floor and the soft lighting, everything looks picture perfect. It took her six months to conceive and complete the look.
As she supervises the makeover of her new home, Xavier confesses that running the business gives an adrenaline rush she has always looked forward to. “Modelling happened when I was 19 and at that age, it’s something that you don’t really want to let go. But I have always wanted to be an interior decorator and do up spaces my way,” says the 31-year-old. So, after seven years of doing the catwalk and countless print campaigns, Xavier decided to take the plunge. She trained with an architectural firm in Delhi before setting up her own agency. Ever since, she has done up residential homes in Delhi and Mumbai besides designing a yet-to-open branch of Leopold’s restaurant in Mumbai. Her website, www.fleurspacestyle.com, which acts as a client interface for her, is also in place now.
