NY Times India blogger, Shivani Vora, interviewed Bangalore-born and Goa-based model Lakshmi
NY Times India blogger, Shivani Vora, interviewed Bangalore-born and Goa-based model Lakshmi Menon.
Menon has been a runway staple and the face of several high-profile ad campaigns including Hermès, Givenchy, Bergdorf Goodman and Max Mara. She has also been featured in fashion tomes like American and Indian Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Elle. Ms.
Love her! She is so beautiful and so sweet. We met and interviewed her backstage in 2009. See the pictures!
How did you get started in modeling?
I was in college at Bangalore University studying sociology when a modeling scout approached me and told me I had the height [Menon is 1.8 meters, or 5 feet, 10 inches] to get some ad work. I could do it on the side while finishing school and make some extra money, so it seemed like a good idea. I didn’t start modeling full time until I graduated, but although I worked in India for several years, I never had much success since all the big ad campaigns featured Bollywood starlets.
What was your big international breakthrough?
An agency in Europe had seen my work in an Indian magazine and contacted me because Jean Paul Gaultier wanted an Indian girl to walk on one of his shows. So I went to Paris and was part of a few shows, and every successive season, I started doing more. I was never an overnight success – my work was a slow buildup.