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“It's been a slow graph for me; I never had any overnight success,” begins Lakshmi Menon— speaking to Vogue India's Head of Editorial Content, Megha Kapoor—addressing her storied career as a model for names like Jean Paul Gaultier and Hermès, “There was a lot of rejection, and it was a very slow and steady rise.” Menon credits supermodel Ujjwala Raut—who walked for Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy and Valentino (among others) in the 80s and 90s—as being a trailblazer by making her mark on the international runways. “I think there was a lull [in Indian women on the global modelling scene] in the noughts," says Menon of when she first set foot in the industry, “There was not a lot of representation on the runways at that time in terms of colour—there were a lot of white women in the business at that point. It was quite lonely being the only South Asian.”
In typically modest fashion, Menon is quick to distance herself from the title of flagbearer, insisting that, “There were many before me who opened the doors to the modelling world.” Today, there are several Indian faces making their presence felt on the global stage, such as model Avanti Nagrath, who had a triumphant season on the runways. Asked what advice she would give up-and-comers, Menon says wryly: “To spend less time on social media and more time educating yourself. Keep yourself interested and be curious about things.”
Despite her lamenting our current age of technology dependence, Menon is also quick to appreciate the changing social mores that see the new generation being more open to different definitions of beauty and to varied kinds of bodies and shapes. Speaking about how her relationship with her body has changed since she first began, Menon says laughingly, “I was 20 when I started and I'm 41 now—that's what's changed about my body!” Jokes aside, she is grateful for the present moment, saying that, “My headspace is so much better now. I feel so much more self-assured. Other people's opinions don't bother me so much—I know who I am and what I am about. It's a whole different way of inhabiting your body.”
Menon's most recent milestone has been the birth of her baby daughter, a journey that saw her body change shape more than it ever has before. “As long as you embrace it as a part of life,” she says of childbirth, “And are comfortable, that's all that matters.” There is an ease with which she talks about ageing—at once an unavoidable reality and the source of much dread for women the world over—and the model insists that, “What we need to get away from is our obsession with youth. Every age is beautiful.”
Menon, far from being youth-obsessed, feels she is a better model now than she was when she first began: “There is so much more you can give,” she says, “Because you have experienced more and have gained depth and perspective.” The model has no tolerance for age limits, saying that, “It's actually very sexist, to think that a women is past her due date because she is of a certain age.” Since debuting 20 years ago, Menon's star has continued to be on the rise, and she shows no signs of slowing down. She says that often, people she meets express surprise at the fact that she is still a model at 41, and to them Menon says simply, “Why not?”
