Return of the couch scandals

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(Left) Designer Anand Jon, who was convicted in California for molesting under-age models (AFP

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Yet again, the ghost of casting couch case was back to haunt the Indian-American designer Anand Jon Alexander. The Chinese whispers in the fashion fraternity grew louder as Anand pleaded guilty to one count of forced oral sex and was sentenced to five years for sexually assaulting a woman he baited with the promise of modeling work. Though the casting couch is a much talked about subject in the film industry, in the world of fashion it is a topic still under wraps.
Designer Aniket Satam feels that the aspiring talent mostly comes from either small towns, who are desperate to get into glamour field and are open to doing anything for it and there is a genuine set of models who fall victim to this vicious casting racket. He says, “Agencies are the best way to support a smart, economical and legal mode to work with models. Most of the renowned agencies protect their models, which is great. Also, brunette models from South American countries have taken away a lot of work from Indian models, making the survival fight more fierce. Same applies for male models as comparatively there is little work for them and this is making competition more cut-throat, accelerating lobbying and casting couch cycle.”
Established male model Amit Ranjan, who has worked with the top designers for past 10 years, agrees to the fact that the casting couch in Indian modeling industry exists and “some” designers try to take advantage of young aspirants in the name of work. He says, “I have seen and heard from fellow models about ‘certain’ designers who try to take advantage of vulnerable aspirants. I can’t openly name anyone, but asking for sexual favours for a ‘break’ surely exists in the fashion industry. It also depends a lot on your reputation in the market; there are models who are willing to do anything just to get a runway show. In my career I have never been approached by any designer with such intentions because right from the beginning I was very careful about my image as a professional.”
However, a rather new face in the industry Ajay Gulia, a model who started working a year ago, has a different take on this. He says, “I don’t think it is true in India. I get assignments through the modelling agency and they are very professional. Since I’m still in the initial phase of my modelling career, I can’t say much, but so far I haven’t faced any such incidents.”
Interestingly, female models feel that Indian fashion industry is a rather safe bet for women compared to men. A top model, who didn’t want to be named, mentions, “Since many male designers in India are not straight they don’t hit on female models. For male models maybe it’s a different story.”