Russian model Anastasia Kuznetsova makes her debut with lakme Fashion Week. She tells Karan Bhardwaj that Indian models have international appeal
Among the lot of models sashaying down the ramp at lakme Fashion Week (lFW) Winter-Festive 2013, Russian model Anastasia Kuznetsova is the head-turner. Over the last six years, she has walked for top international fashion houses like Valentino, Givenchy, Chanel and Oscar de la Renta but it is her debut appearance on the Indian ramp. “It’s great here! I am enjoying to the fullest. Everybody treats you like a family,” she says with a smile over the phone.
On her Indian counterparts, the Rsussian beauty says that they have the ability to set global trends. “I don’t understand why people say that Indian models are misfit at international fashion shows. I think they are lovely and are very professional. I have done global shows but never found confident models like in India. Theirs is not even an iota of stress on their faces,” she says.
However, she finds more scope for Indian designers. “They lack international appeal. Some of them are great and have potential,” says the model, who started her career at the age of 16 with a shoot for a Japanese magazine. It is her debut on Indian ramp but not in India. She came early this year with her yoga teacher. “India has influenced me a lot. I practice yoga four times a week. I came in January with my yoga instructor and took Ayurveda treatments in Kerala. I also visited Mumbai,” she tells us.
While she is fond of people and Indian hospitality, the only thing she couldn’t come to terms with is food. “It’s very spicy. When I say this to other people here, they say it’s absolutely fine. But I find it too spicy. So I am cooking my food myself here which is not Indian,” she says.
A lot of foreign models have worked in Bollywood but Anastasia has no such plans. “I would love to give it a try but I cannot see it in long run. The only Indian movie I have seen is Seeta Aur Geeta. Though I couldn’t understand the language, I enjoyed it,” she says.