Padma Lakshmi
Are Indian models to become the next big thing on the catwalks? It would appear so as the fashion world is taking notice and realising their potential and versatility in selling high fashion.
America's ABCNews reports that the latest buzz surrounding the industry is that India is the next Brazil, in terms of searching the country to find the next budding Gisele Bundchen or Adriana Lima.
Indian Lakshmi Menon, a Ford model, recently scored campaigns with Givenchy and Hermes. Kangana Dutta, newly signed with IMG, posed for the September issue of Harper's Bazaar.
TV presenter Padma Lakshmi, whose past modelling work turned the industry's eye to the subcontinent, believes that this so-called trend is a long time coming. "We're clearly having a moment," she told ABCNews. "You're seeing more diversity in advertising, not just in the magazines, but also editorially.
"When I started modelling, a lot of people didn't really know where I was from," she continued. "They were so unfamiliar with Indian faces that they didn't know if I was mixed, or Brazilian or Indonesian or maybe Hawaiian."
"A lot of times, when I would be booked on jobs for editorial, it would be a lot of ethnic clothing," Lakshmi added. "Or a photo shoot on an island or Morocco, or something ... many times, they would book me when they were looking for someone quote-unquote exotic. Now, we just have a broader definition of beauty."
India has provided inspiration in fashion circles for decades. Before moving into the world of Indian politics in the 1960s and 70s, the princess Maharani Gayatri Devi, Rajmata of Jaipur, was named in Vogue's "Ten Most Beautiful Women" list.
In some ways it could be insulting that the industry is only just taking notice of Indian models but surely better late than never.