The model you want to be friends with, hidden talents galore and long lasting legs Kiren Modi is the epitome of beauty inside and out. After being scouted on a night out for a friends birthday the model went on to enter the Next modelling competition, after winning the Indian beauty began to take the modelling industry in her stride and has since landed clients such as Stella Artois and a feature in Fast and Furious 6. With words of wisdom and personal experiences we speak to Kiren about her personal journey and experiences, opinions of models in the media and racial diversity.

Kiren, what is it that really stood out to you that made you want to pursue modelling as a career? 

I started modeling after I was first scouted at Cafe Du Paris at a friends 18th. I didn't take it seriously until I won the Next Modeling competition where I was represented by Select Models and shot for the Next clothing Directory and store campaigns. Since, I've stayed in the modeling industry taking part in fashion and commercial campaigns including London Fashion week, Stella Artois Campaign, QVC, Fast and Furious 6, to name a few, peppered with lots of travel in between for shoots and shows, and up until recently the Asian bridal industry.

And how would you summarise your personal journey to where you are now as a model? 

Back when I started modeling, which was 8/9 years ago there weren't any dark skinned Asian models around. I was lucky to have started my career at a point where Indian models were just coming on to the scene which coincided with the birth of TMP Agency headed by Marcus, the first agency I joined after my contract ended with Select where I was also one of first girls on the TMP books. I’m now represented by 5 different agencies and work freelance too. In some respects I'm coming towards the end of my modeling career because of my age but have decided to stop when there is no more work or requests for me to model. At first I started modeling because I almost fell into it, I enjoyed being involved in fashion, until suddenly I realised it was a form of expression. I realised the influential position I could be in, especially since I represented a niche market within an industry full of Caucasian/European models so decided to push further so that I could encourage younger Asian girls to stand up and have a voice and essentially be proud of their looks whatever shade of brown they are.

What are you currently up to? 

Currently my life is more of a balancing act, I work as a model, I still attend castings, shoots and runway shows, but when I'm not busy with modeling, I'm investing in my leather shoe making and accessories business while also managing my footwear blog.

Would the shoe making and blogging of the process been your ideal role from the start?

I think blogging has risen quite drastically and I love to share my passion with people that perhaps only see me on social media for my daily lifestyle and modelling images. As for the shoes, I wanted to make my own brand producing amazing footwear under £100.00; however, the making process is harder than you think and the cost of leather adds up!

For a long time the media and now the blogs of model agencies focus on the beauty and lifestyle hacks of models. Why do you think this is the case?

The sad and worrying fact of this question, and I suppose simplicity of its answer is that it feeds off insecurities and the desire to be like the women/men that are highly regarded for the way they look. The media know exactly what will sell and unfortunately society theses days are obsessed with the superficiality of the celebrity world. 

Keeping in mind the ideals of superficiality, in terms of the industry - what do you believe the key negatives are?

Personally, from what I have experienced and the main things I have noticed that sadden me, is the pedestals the younger generation put models on especially when the models on these pedestals are not always the best examples, especially when they are always in the media. The second niggling negative would be the pursuits of “perfectionism” that the younger generation pin or use as inspiration from models they look up to. The constant strive to be or look like models/celebs can be seriously unhealthy mentally and physically.

With that being said what do you think the positives of the industry are for you? 

 Having said all the above, I've been lucky enough to have a hugely supportive network of friends and family who have kept seriously grounded and grateful for everything I have been able to experience as a model. The only great positive about modeling has ALWAYS been the travel and being able to endure experiences you may not have done otherwise.

What is it about travelling that has been a positive takeaway from the industry for you?

I have been so lucky to travel with modeling where I was able to learn about other cultures, religions and become more generally worldly wise. You cannot put money on these sorts of experiences; it’s the only thing that can build you into a stronger, wiser, compassionate and tolerant human being.

Agreed. Comments like that are what the media should focus on when interviewing models! Was there anything about the industry that perhaps you were unaware or unprepared for?

Not so much unprepared, as I was hugely aware of how badly Asians were represented in the modeling/fashion industry but I became far more aware of how difficult it was to work as model of colour.

What was most difficult about this aspect? Do you think that this has evolved? 

The industries idea of beauty has only recently become diverse because of they've had to move with the times. I was also shocked and ashamed at how completely shunned by my own culture I was because of my skin tone especially when I was working successfully at the time in the Western industry. Up until recently dark skinned Asian girls had no place on Asian bridal magazines. It’s so nice to see that completely changing now.

Do you feel that people have an assumption of the person you are? How would you describe your personality?

I guess the age-old assumption is that models are bimbos. I can safely put that rumor to rest. Most of the models I have met through out my career have been very smart academically and business minded. I do my best to be an example and never tell new models to give up education at a young age even if there is a huge modeling contract in the balance.

I completely agree, throughout experience a vast majority of models are educated.

Precisely, education is free and once you have it, its something no one can ever take away from you, or that you can ever grow out of and it’s the only thing that can make you mentally richer. 

Is there anything that you feel the modelling industry could currently benefit from?

I have always thought about this, and I think models would benefit hugely from an independent support system away from their agencies, that can look out for their mental and physical health along with their well-being. So a hub for models to go to that helps with the dynamic and compromising situations they can be placed in while modeling. Reasons why I believe that the ethos behind the Model Issue is a step in the right direction.

Following suit, what are your thoughts on models being heard or misheard within the industry?

I’m not sure if it’s misheard, or that the models haven't spoken out enough. It could and most likely be a bit of both. I think models sometimes don't know what there rights are, especially when what ever the issue is (small or large) could be misconstrued as them acting out or having "diva" behavior, when most of the time it could just be a human right, like lack of food or drink during shooting time, getting paid on time or simply not being paid at all. Often models are disregarded when actually they are the most important entity of a shoot, in which case the models are offering a service that MUST be paid for, like in any other transaction of service. Having to argue, discuss pay and any other issues while taking on a job/project shouldn't be seen as diva behavior or a complaint, it should be seen as just that, being paid for a service. This is a gap in the market I believe, enough support in this area is lacking, knowing what to do in these circumstances should be something that’s taught and maybe that along with well being support is something that’s misheard in the industry.

I think it's sad that a lot of models don't know what their rights are and just like every job there should be a detailed contract provided by the agency outlining these points. In terms of the discussion about race within the industry, have ever you had any direct encounters from this element? What are your current thoughts as a model about it?

It's an underlying issue that’s not adequately addressed. For instance for every job my Caucasian counterparts successfully book I know Id have to work 10 times harder to get the same job because the industry hasn't evolved/diversified effectively yet. I can always figure out if I'll get a job from the requirements even if they aren't race specific. If the job requires one girl for a job, (with out specificity of race) I can be pretty sure (80/90% sure) the girl to get the job will be Caucasian, unless the specification is the requirement of an Indian looking model and even this requirement can be bent and reshaped (where some European and south American girls can get away with looking Indian too). However, if the job requires more than 1 girl for the job say more than 2 girls they'll go for the diversity and I'd have a better chance of getting the job.

Interesting point to highlight, in terms of personal relations to the issue?

In some respects the Asian industry is quite similar, beauty concepts very rarely feature a dark skinned Asian model, and in some cases don't even feature Indian girls, they are usually of European descent. My issue isn't that they aren't Asian, in any case I'm all for a beautiful girl that’s fair skinned, beautiful is beautiful, end of story. My point is that, these publications need to understand the wider sub conscious message they are sending out to the young readers who aren't always as fair as the girls that feature in the magazines. The young readership have that desire and aspiration to be like the girls in the magazine, readers can see these models are not Asian and the message they are sending out is that to be beautiful you have to look and have skin like the models in the magazines, which is damning and soul destroying for readers who don't have fair skin, which will probably be over 50% of the readers.

Race is such a prominent topic within the fashion and modelling industry, although there has been a lot of change in the positive direction recently. Change can only come from inside the industry and although it is a slow process; as mentioned there are positive changes emerging. In terms of the industry when you joined as a model to now, do you believe there has been much of a change?

For every huge step forward there is always a counter reaction. This is not to say that there hasn't been a huge improvement since I started - there has been a lot of noticeable progress. For instance far more models of colour have featured on runways in London and New York. In comparison Milan and Paris still have a little way to go. The change in thought by the designers has help enormously and needs to happen more often.  We still have a long way to go until the industry completely diversifies to represent other cultures.

I know we have briefly touched on this earlier in conversation, what are your thoughts on models having a voice on platforms such as; Twitter, Instagram and personal blog?

That they are well with in their rights to do so. I follow a model called Leomie Anderson on Snapchat and she is well known for speaking her mind. I think social media in this respect has helped other girls understand the industry better before deciding to take it on as a full time career. Also as I mentioned earlier, models have become very astute and business minded, they are well aware of the money that branding themselves can create, and since the industry is in need of diversity these sorts of platforms can really elevate a career and shine a spotlight on beauties with dark skin and other cultures who may not be able to sign with modeling agencies or have a voice that’s heard with millions of viewers/followers/readers.