Two Indian Girls Just Changed What a Runway Opener Looks Like

Two Indian Girls Just Changed What a Runway Opener Looks Like

 

I was doomscrolling the other night like I always do and two shorts back to back made me stop. One was about Bhavitha Mandava becoming the first Indian model to open a Chanel show. The other was about Avanti Nagrath opening Versace for Fall Winter 2022 in Milan. I watched both twice. Not gonna lie I got a little emotional over a vertical video which is not like me.

Let me start with Avanti. March 2022 and Milan Fashion Week. She was 21 and from New Delhi and she walked out first for Versace. First Indian model ever to do that. Opening a show is not some background role. The opener sets the whole mood. Every camera is on you and there is nobody to blend in with. It is the scariest spot on the runway and she just owned it.

What hit me hardest was how it all started. Avanti was not even chasing this at first. She planned to study economics abroad. Then COVID came through and wrecked the plan. Honestly that feels so relatable. Our whole generation had a life timeline that got paused for no reason and nobody told us when it would restart. Everyone was just stuck in their room refreshing their phone.

So she finally gets to Europe after all that waiting. And the second she lands she books this show. Like immediately. No overthinking and no spiraling about whether she was ready. She just went for it. That is the energy I want to have. I overthink ordering food so this feels unreal to me.

After the show she said it still felt like a dream even while she was walking it. I love that so much because it is so real. You would think someone making history would feel unstoppable. But she felt exactly like us. Like she was watching it happen to someone else and could not believe it was her life. Lowkey that makes the moment even cooler.

Now Bhavitha. The clip called her the first Indian model to open a Chanel show. Chanel is the type of brand that feels super untouchable. Old school and very exclusive. For years it felt like that world was not made for people who look like us. So seeing an Indian girl lead the show there is a big deal. I will be honest and say I was never a fashion person before this. I only had that headline to go on so I will not pretend I know more than I do. But the headline alone was enough to make me smile.

People love saying representation is overrated. I do not agree at all. When you grow up you absorb what success looks like from what you see around you. And for a long time global fashion did not show many faces like ours. That quietly tells young girls a story about what is allowed. Then a girl from Delhi opens Versace and the story changes. Suddenly somebody somewhere gets to think I could do that too.

It is also bigger than the models themselves. Think about the aunties and cousins and parents watching these clips on their phones and feeling proud of someone they have never met. That kind of pride spreads fast. It makes a dream that sounded silly at the dinner table feel a little more realistic. I have seen how one good example in a family group chat can change how everyone talks about careers.

I do not want to act like one runway fixes everything. The industry still has a long way to go on who gets booked and who gets the credit. Let us not clap too early. But firsts matter because they crack the door open. And once a door is cracked the next person does not have to kick it down.

The biggest takeaway for me is about timing. Avanti lost time to a pandemic and still ended up at the front of a Milan runway. Meanwhile I know people my age losing sleep over where they should be by now. Jobs and degrees and who is doing better on LinkedIn. Her story is a reminder that a delay is not a no. Sometimes the detour is the plot twist.

I do not know either of these women personally. All I have is a few seconds of video and a short caption. Still it was enough to make me feel a bit braver. I closed the app and for once did not feel like I wasted my time scrolling. Honestly that is rare.