Three top Malaysian models tell us what happens when the stage goes online and the audience gets bigger
What happens when the sudden standstill of an ongoing pandemic forces a model to exit the physical stage and pivot to the virtual runway? Well, as cliché as it sounds, the show must go on.
In this month's issue of Tatler Malaysia, three Malaysian models—Shikin Gomez, Natalie Prabha and Nia Atasha, who are all represented by The Models Lab KL—share how they decided to make their own opportunities instead of waiting around for the right set of circumstances. And in the process, they discover what it means to be a model in the digital age.
Making it work off the runway
“We miss fashion shows so much—you have no idea,” bemoans Nia Atasha, 25. The model, actress, visual artist and budding entrepreneur is visibly wistful over the four-way Zoom call as her friends Natalie Prabha and Shikin Gomez echo that nostalgia.
“Yeah, the craziness of fashion week, the six hours of waiting time, and the two hours of stage time... It was all worth it," muses proud Sabahan Prabha, 27, who's also a vegan who often shows off her cooking skills on Instagram. "Especially when you look at where we are now. It’s been a whole year since our last show; I don’t think I even know how to walk anymore. My heels are probably rotting in a corner somewhere.”
As for 28-year-old Gomez, a finalist in Asia’s Next Top Model Cycle 5 (ANTM), she professes to feeling adrift as her schedule was once packed with castings, shows, and social events. “It was so weird. One moment the main issue was trying to find a day off. The next moment, I found myself stuck in my brand new apartment with nothing to do. Everything just stopped. I honestly thought that it was the end of my career."
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