A model life

This young and leggy lass began her modelling career as a part of the Mount Carmel College fashion team, where she got the opportunity to walk the ramp for a lot of inter-college fests. Born in 1997, she confides that it has always been her dream to walk the ramp but she was a bundle of nerves before every show. It was the support of her family and friends and a warm welcome from the fashion world that helped her overcome her initial nervousness in these early days of her career.

Akshara recalls how she balanced her studies and her modelling career during the initial stages. “I studied BCom (industry integrated) for my undergrad, and that’s when I started doing photo shoots as well.” she remembers. Elaborating on it, she continues, “It was really hard to manage and do justice to both as it was the toughest stream of BCom and we were required to do a lot of field visits, assignments, projects and stuff. At the same time, I had a lot of photo shoot projects coming my way too. But I am a multi-tasker so I managed it though it was challenging to handle it all together.”

When it comes to leisure, Akshara seems to be a person with simple tastes that haven’t changed much since her college days. Her choice of restaurants and places to hang out in Bengaluru are all the classic ones. “I would any day prefer going to places like Halli Mane, CTR Dosa joint, Veena Stores or something like that,” she laughs. And her typical day is pretty old-school too. “Oh! It’s pretty regular actually. I wake up, go to work, and come back home and then it’s workout time. So, my week days just fly by. On weekends, I meet a couple of friends and we chill. We prefer doing something low key,” she admits.

But she is far from low key in her model avatar and knows how to flaunt it with the best of the rest. According to Akshara, Instagram plays a very important role in the modelling world these days. She says, “I got into professional modelling via Instagram as well. Clients go through a model’s Instagram profile to understand the kind of work they have done and to see different pictures. They then get in touch with the managers and things move forward from thereon.” Akshara describes the most transformative shoot she has done by far, as one that turned her from a newbie to a professional. “It was the shoot I did for a brand called Peru. With my learning experiences from that shoot, I completely transformed. It was the first big brand shoot I had ever done. I learnt things like how to pose in front of the cameras; how to get the attitude right when you are shooting for a particular brand; to get the moves right and understand each pose,” she gushes.

Akshara believes that the three most important things required to be a successful model in the very competitive fashion industry, are a great attitude, a perfect body and generosity of spirit. She also avers that focusing on the negative side of the glamour world is self-harming. “I do not succumb to unhealthy competition. I try to understand how it all works. For example, if a brand chooses another model over me, I try to understand why they did that, because there will definitely be some key qualities that this girl had from the point of view of the brand. This will help me get a job with them in the future,” she explains how she stays positive.

Akshara dreams of walking the ramp for an international brand in a foreign country in the future. When asked if an acting career is part of her life plan too, she replies that it is not something she is passionate about so she would never divert from modelling as a profession to pursue that. Her dedication is commendable and she not only has clear focus but also a clear plan to achieve her dreams.

Fitness and beauty are a big part of her life goals. Akshara ensures that she follows her skincare, make-up routine and work-out routine daily. “On a regular basis I do not really do a lot of make-up, but if I have a meeting or something, I apply a lot of moisturiser, a little bit of concealer and I never forget to apply a lip and chin tint, it makes you look very fresh!” Talking about working out, she continues saying, “I love doing cross fit and I do that on alternate days. The remaining days, I prefer doing cardio.” She says she will prep for the Lakme Winter Fashion Week by self-grooming some time ahead, with a serious skincare routine to ensure that it is clean and clear. A healthy diet to maintain both the body and the face is a must too. What excites her most about the upcoming fashion week is that she gets to walk for her dream designer - Manish Malhotra.

Now that she’s been catapulted onto the country’s most coveted catwalks, Akshara seems to be ready to sashay her way to even greater success.