Starving to look ‘perfect’

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Amidst the shiny lights on ramp if you take a closer look at the made up faces of waif-thin models sashaying in designer wear, you’ll be surprised to find out how much effort goes into getting that hourglass figure. And if you thought being a model is a cakewalk, then you are mistaken as you may end up sacrificing even a meager rice cake as supermodel Amy Lemons did when she was the catwalk queen.
The famous rampscorcher recently revealed how her agent forced her to survive on half a rice cake to look skinny. And Amy is not alone, as many models confide that to get those matchstick arms you must suffer hunger pangs. With a new body type in vogue every season, and the need to conform and battle continuous stress to look “perfect”, many young models develop eating disorders.
Model Krishna Somani, who is walking the ramp for the last six years, reveals that the newer girls joining the profession are quite reckless about their eating habits and at times they starve. She says, “I don’t understand how somebody can forget to eat. I have seen many young girls fainting on the ramp. This is because they have been hungry for the past 24 hours in order to look thin. And I strongly feel that models who don’t eat properly are harming themselves because the system eventually gets affected. If you are hungry for long it causes a mental imbalance too and makes you short-tempered.”
Fashion photographer Vikram Bawa also agrees that a lot of models starve themselves before facing the camera for photo shoots and fashion weeks.
He says, “Many models feel that if they have to look good in a photo they need to severely diet. In fact, I tell everybody to eat well before they come for shoots because they might end up looking hungry and we won’t get the right expressions. They have a lot of pressure to look good on the camera, and instead of excising and shedding weight many prefer the shortcut.”
However Aanchal Oberoi, who has been modelling for four years, feels that a few kilos up and down is no big deal for people in this profession. She says, “Usually models know their body type and depending on whether it’s skinny or curvy they maintain it. Modelling agencies and fitness instructors also advise models to watch what they eat so that they don’t put on flab. Since our profession requires a lot of travelling, exercising and running around, people tend to lose weight quickly. In India, designers are not too fussy about weight and as long as you fit beautifully in the clothes they are happy.”
Designer Anju Modi feels that many Indian models don’t like looking anorexic and are happy to flaunt their curves. She says, “Models are a medium to showcase our work, and it doesn’t matter if they are voluptuous or skinny as long as they look good. Nobody likes to see stick thin models in the clothes we design, because if they don’t look good we look bad. I can’t talk about others, but personally I haven’t asked my models to lose weight.”