Model Behaviour

What does it take to get the world to sit up and take note? Models Radhika Nair and Saffron Vadher are bringing their unique charm to a new world order.

- Akanksha Kamath

It was in Paris, earlier this year, when Virgil Abloh’s headlining debut show as the first black artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear created a rainbow on the runway. Not just in the clothes that came in a perfect synchrony of technicolour but also in the multi-hued models that marched down, details of whom Abloh provided on everyone’s seat. “They will be able to identify who the models are, what they do. It’s about giving them an identity, about them no longer being anonymous bodies. There’s a map of where they live in the world, and where their parents came from,” he told Vogue shortly after the show. There was magic in this already incredible moment that stood for something far larger and deeper. 

For some time now, themes of ‘representation’, ‘individuality’, ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusivity’ have filled our news feeds. It’s also been a year of the unexpected—a hijabi model on the rise, men of colour stationed firmly at fashion’s frontline, curvy bodies paving the way for new beauty codes, and part of this revolution has been the rise of the brown girl on international runways. Now more than ever, in a mutable industry where change is afoot, young women like Radhika Nair and Saffron Vadher find themselves in the global ring, defending their corners, one great catwalk at a time.