Ujjwala Raut

[ilovemodels]

i agree ^

 

[oxymoron]

Yay!!!!!!

At Givenchy HC

style

 

[pmegha]

^ I just saw that I was so happy I don't like the black thing they put on her face though, but it is great to see her back on the runway.

 

[Trista]

Was Givenchy the only HC show that she did?

 

[oxymoron]

Was Givenchy the only HC show that she did?

Yes, I believe so. Tisci (or whoever casts for Givenchy) does a great job in casting diverse models.

 

[ilovemodels]

no matter wat they put on her she works that runway weelll

 

[Royal-Galliano]

gianfrancomeza.com

 

[pmegha]

IMG

Ujjwala is a part of IMG's show package for Spring/Summer 2007...I am so excited to see her come back to the runway!!!

 

[sepia]

She's gorgeous! I have to find more pics of her.

 

[sosneha]

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[FONT=verdana,arial]One can say modelling is her life. But like every other model she too in her early days felt nervous before stepping on to the ramp. The first show she did was the De Beers show choreographed by Hemant Trevedi. She once said in an interview, remembering her first assignment: "I was very conscious and scared then. In fact, I think I nearly missed an entry."

She was mere seventeen when she won the Femina Look of the Year 1996. She participated in the Elite Model Look of the Year in Nice and was placed among the top 15. Since then she hasn't looked back. Got her name?

Ujwala Raut, that's the model everyone has been talking about for over last four-five years. Well, she is more than a model. This lovely Mumbai girl is India's undisputed supermodel. She has walked the ramp for every major designer in India from Tarun Tahiliani to Shahab Durazi.

She has also worked in most of the fashion capitals of the world, such as Paris, Milan, New York or London, to name a few. She has even sashayed down the catwalk for international designer Chanel.

Well, that is not all. Ujwala has also done quite a bit of commercial work as well. This girl from Dahisar, a western suburb in the city of Mumbai, was a student of commerce. How did she get into the glamour world? She first entered a beauty contest in the year 1996, which she won. She recounts to say: "I put my entry in really late. In fact, they had already selected the finalists by the time I turned up." But obviously the judges felt she had real potential as she went straight into the finals and came up triumphant.
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[FONT=verdana,arial]When she was living in Paris after winning the Elite contest, she led the high life and even rubbed shoulders with Johnny Depp, Andie McDowell and Kate Moss. How has been her experience of working abroad with top designers of the world.

She generally finds herself quite 'at home'. She says: "The Indian look is beginning to be really appreciated in the international scene." After winning Look of the Year, she won the Elite competition and got an opportunity to represent this international agency. Their clients include supermodel Naomi Campbell.

How does Ujwala feel being termed a supermodel? She says casually: "It's great. I love it. But then, I think I'm a supermodel because I have worked abroad. think people really wanted to work with me after I worked abroad."

She has been getting offers from Bollywood, but she thinks she is too tall for films." How does the fashion scene there compare with here? According to her, things are changing here and fashion is becoming more international. Make-up, for example, used to mean too much colour here earlier, but now make-up artists give you the natural look, like they do abroad."

She is happy being a model. "I have so many friends in the industry and you get to travel and meet new people. "But at heart she is a typical Maharashtrain girl who is very close to her family. Ujwala has four sisters who she is very close to.

She constantly shuttles between her home country and abroad. She comes back simply because she loves being in this city of Mumbai for the smell, the food and the people here. Summing up the philosophy of her life, Ujwala quips: "I do not make plans, I just let things happen."

indbazaar.com​

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[sosneha]

20 Questions with Ujwala Raut

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Birthdate: June 11

Zodiac: Gemini

Height: 5'10"

Bust: 32"

Waist: 24"

Hips: 35.5"

Popular Campaigns: Director's Special. A very well conceptualised ad. It had a surreal look to it, a true visual treat.

Claim to fame: Femina Look of the Year 1996

She has rubbed shoulders with: Johnny Depp, Andie McDowell and Kate Moss

Her first show: The De Beers show choreographed by Hemant Trevedi.

Magazine covers: ('Elle'}, UK:; 'Tank' - Vol. 03, Issue 8, 2003

Agencies: 'IMG', Paris & New york; Take 2 Model Management, Brave Model Management, Milan

Advertisements: Gabbana, GAP, Pianegonda, Yves Saint Laurent cosmetics

Her modelling assignements: Angelo Tarazzi, Paco Rabanne, Veronique Leroy, Claude Montana and Chanel

She fears: Being mobbed by crowds as once it happened in Bhopal

She enjoys: Sitting in the backseat of BEST bus and jumping when we hit the speed breakers

She is close to: Her family

Thinking of Bollywood: She thinks she is too tall for films

Her philosphy: I just let things happen

Recent shows: Haute Couture - Fall/Winter 2003 {Jean-Louis Scherrer, Ritu Beri} Victoria's Secret - November 2003 Ready to Wear - Spring/Summer 2004 {Alviero Martini, Badgley Michska, Betsey Johnson, Chloe, Gattinoni, Gottex, Gucci, Oscar de la Renta, Paco Rabanne, Valentino, Viktor & Rolf, Yves Saint Laurent} Haute Couture - Spring/Summer 2004 {Christian Lacroix}

same source[/FONT]

 

[sosneha]

Ujjwala Raut: Up, close and personal
Anuradha SenGupta CNN-IBN

Posted Thursday , April 13, 2006 at 16:00

BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL: Ujjwala Raut says hard work, determination took her to the top.​

Two consecutive Indian Fashion Weeks have left behind images of beautiful women and exotic clothes on our minds. Who are these purveyors of the beauty standard, what are they really like under their make-up and away from the cameras? Anuradha SenGupta sought answers from international supermodel Ujjwala Raut.​

Anuradha SenGupta: It has been said that you want to come back home to India?
Ujjwala Raut: Oh, Yes! I always tell everybody that I want to be back home because I want to do something else besides modeling. And I am finding ways to come back. I want to eventually settle in India.​

Anuradha SenGupta: Ujjwala is one of the few Indian models who are nurturing a career of international standards and who are working with a host of brands including YSL. For the two India Fashion Weeks this year, she was definitely the star or in fashion jargon, the supermodel. At 27, Ujjwala is a veteran.​

Ujjwala, how have the past two weeks been like for you? Is it like a blur of people, colours, sounds, lights and camera? Are you on autopilot?​

Ujjwala Raut:: It has been quite hectic and it has been great at the same time. It was not blurred with people because I have worked in India and I still do, and more or less I know everybody here. It is exhausting though, especially after having a baby when I took a break from modeling. It was then that I realised that I had been following a hectic schedule.​

Anuradha SenGupta: What made you nurture a career abroad? We do hear of Indian models going abroad and finding it difficult, for whatever personal reasons, and leave it halfway.​

Ujjwala Raut: You need a lot of determination. The competition is so tough; there are not only girls from one country but there are girls coming from all over the world like from Brazil, Ukraine, America, France. There is a lot of competition and it is quite tough because you are away from home and you do not have your family with you.​

You live in a country having a language, which you do not speak. I for myself started my career in Paris and I think I was lucky as it was the right time for me to have gone there. None of the Indian girls or Asian girls was accepted then. But when I went there were a whole lot of Brazilian girls modeling and everybody thought I was a Brazilian. However, when I spoke they thought I did have an Indian accent. I blended in with the modeling circuit over there.​

One important thing: if you want to nurture an international career you have to be young. Girls start their career at 17-18 and I was still 21 when I got there. I had the inspiration to do something to achieve what I could.​

It does get hard though because you when you are living in India and have a good life. You have a driver, a cook. And then you go to a foreign country where you have nothing and start form the bottom again. All you have is your manager and your agency, which is like a family and everything for you.

Anuradha SenGupta: How did your family react to this decision that you made of going abroad for your modeling career?​

Ujjwala Raut: I did not tell my mother that I was leaving, I just took off. I used to travel a lot within India and abroad; I used to go for shoots to Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. My parents were not seeing me most of the time as it was. When I told my mother that I was going to Paris, she thought that I was just going for a show. I called her after reaching Paris. If I had told her this in person she would never agreed to that.​

Anuradha SenGupta: Your family does not hail from a fashion world, right?​

Ujjwala Raut: Yes, my father is in the police department and my mother is a homemaker.​

Anuradha SenGupta: How close are you to your roots? Are you now in a different world and your family in a different world? Do the two worlds overlap?​

Ujjwala Raut: It is difficult because they are never going to understand and I completely respect that because that's how they were brought up. That's the life they live and I live a completely different life with a different set of people, traveling all over the world. So I think it is not going to be very easy for that two different worlds that we live in to blend. And I just think its fine like that, each left to its own.​

Anuradha SenGupta: You belong to both the worlds, don't you?</I>​

Ujjwala Raut: Yes, I do. I know my parents are not going to change but I can change myself.

Anuradha SenGupta: Did they come to see you walk the ramp at the Mumbai Fashion Week?​

Ujjwala Raut: Yes, my mother came and had a nice time with me and my baby. My father did not come because being a policeman it is difficult for him to accept fashion and the clothes we wear for the shows. But it is all right; I would rather that he does not come for my shows.​

Anuradha SenGupta: Is the fashion industry different abroad from that in India?​

Ujjwala Raut: It is very different. You have to give your 100 per cent to what you are doing abroad. There is no room for excuses. Besides, there are parties and social events to take part in. You have to maintain your clientele and you really get exhausted doing that. But things are done in a very professional manner there. You get every thing, including shoes and undergarments, for a show. There is a big team working on your hair and make-up. Sometimes you just walk in five minutes before a show starts, because you will have just done a show for another designer or brand. Things happen so promptly! 10 people will just jump on you, five to do your make-up and five to style your hair.​

Anuradha SenGupta: I saw you walk the ramp for the Manish Arora and the Rohit Bal shows; you had your nose in the air and you had an aloof look. Is that how the way you walk the ramp. Is it a way of concentrating or is it the way a model is supposed to look, a desirable creature?​

Ujjwala Raut: Exactly, a model is supposed to look desirable. People cannot touch you; they can only look at you. And as for my aloof look, it is because we are taught to look that way abroad. People should look at you and say I want to be like her. You have to give that kind of impression; that you are focused on the cameras because while you are walking your pictures are being taken at the same time.
You should not look at the audience and get distracted. I also try not to distract my self with anything when I walk the ramp, I want be focused on the walk and the cameras. Besides, it is nice to be elegant.

Anuradha SenGupta: Did you think you were a beautiful girl when you were growing up?​

Ujjwala Raut: No, not at all. However, I must tell it is very funny that I don't have a single childhood photograph because my mother thought that I was not pretty enough. All my sisters have childhood pictures but I do not have any.​

Anuradha SenGupta: Does your mother think that you are pretty now?​

Ujjwala Raut: Yes, she does. And it has taken a lot of years to get where I am. It was al due to the grooming that went to it, which included lessons on the way you talk, the way you dress, the way you walk, the way you eat and the way you sit.​

Anuradha SenGupta: There are a lot of young girls watching you, do you think beauty is what you are born with or something you make?​

Ujjwala Raut: Sometimes you can be naturally beautiful. There are many girls who are just 16 and they look naturally beautiful abroad. However, in India it takes a while for the girls to mature and realise what they are capable of and what they can do. It took some time for me as well, as I hail from a completely raw background.​

Anuradha SenGupta: How do you explain your international success?​

Ujjwala Raut: I have been told abroad in the modeling circuit, “Oh! You don’t look like any of those Miss Indias we have seen, you are so different.” To have an international look is one vital criterion for models abroad. I have seen quite a number of beautiful women all over the world but they are not as successful. And there are a lot of things attributing to your success too, the right agent, the right stylist, the right dresser, the right magazine and the right photographer.​

Anuradha SenGupta: Is it also because of your face? You have a kind of face, which when it stares from billboards, cannot be categorised as to which country you could hail from.

Ujjwala Raut: Yes, it is. You know it is also because I guess you have to look international, as you don’t just work in one market. You work in Spain, UK, America and you have to change your look accordingly. You cannot just have one look. When I went abroad, everyone thought that I was Brazilian.​

Besides, you also have to be slim and fit in the clothes. They do not alter the clothes according to your body size. It is you who has to fit in the clothes and also have an international look, otherwise there is no chance.​

Anuradha SenGupta: A fashion show is basically about women on parade. You become an object as you are looked at being one, yet the Ujjwala I am talking to is somebody who fought against her family and her background. She went and achieved something for independence, the money and for a sense of empowerment. How do you balance these two?​

Ujjwala Raut: I do what I want to do and I just don’t do anything and everything. I am very choosy now about what I do, where I am seen, what I wear, how I talk and how I walk. So there are a lot of things behind it. I do not look at myself as an object, which men just want to stare at. Besides, when I am not working, I am very casual and do not want attention.​

You have to actually deal with these if you are in a business like modeling.

Anuradha SenGupta: What do you think of the argument that people have which says that people in the beauty business are actually not liberated. The models may make good money but as women they still have the century-old approach about themselves.​

Ujjwala Raut: As you know that my husband is not an Indian. And I actually got more freedom after I got married. My husband allowed me to do what ever I wanted to do.​

Anuradha SenGupta: You were liberated even before you got married. You were doing what you wanted to do, isn't it?

Ujjwala Raut: I was doing so but my parents were not very happy with that. There is never a better feeling than knowing that someone is happy with what you are doing in life. But my husband is so amazing; he helps me keep my self focused and calm because sometimes I get very upset and want to scream and shout. It is he who helps me calm down.​

Anuradha SenGupta: The two of you are obviously very much in love aren't you?​

Ujjwala Raut: Yes, we are.​

Anuradha SenGupta: Do you think it’s a problem that men or women, when they look at models or people in the beauty or the glamour business, keep wanting to become like them. Young girls might want to be Ujjwala Raut when know they cannot be her?​

Ujjwala Raut: It is not just in India but even when I would go shopping in New York. I would go to stores and the sales girls would say, “You are model, I want to model too!” I would just be honest with them and tell them that modeling is not for everybody. You need to meet certain criteria to become a model. You see I cannot become a doctor or a lawyer.
You actually have to understand where your interest lies in and what you are capable of pursuing as a profession. I cannot be a Cindy Crawford, a Naomi Campbell, or a Christy Turlington. Firstly, I had to realise what I was capable of. What would suit me and what I should do that could make me happy.​

Anuradha SenGupta: Do you want to be in the class of the models whose names you just mentioned?

Ujjwala Raut: I feel I am almost there.​

Anuradha SenGupta: Ujjwala Raut, we think you made yourself who you are and it is great that you are acknowledging all the work that goes into being a supermodel. Thank you and all the best.​

Ujjwala Raut: Thank you so much.​

ibnlive.com​

 

[sosneha]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ujjwala Raut and Craig Maxwell Sterry[/FONT][FONT=MS Sans Serif, MS Serif]

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Ujjwala's YSL Wedding

Ujjwala Raut, India's most accomplished supermodel married top male model Craig Maxwell Sterry on June 19, 2004 in New York. Mumbai bred Maharashtrian girl Ujjwala won her first title in 1996, at the young age of 17 after which she secured several prestigious modeling contracts. She has also been on the cover of Time magazine. Scotsman Craig Maxwell Sterry has been dating Raut for over 3 years. The Gemini pair live and work on separate continents most days- Craig in London, Ujjwala in New York.

A Flash Wedding
Sterry proposed to Raut on June 11 at a dinner party celebrating his birthday, just two days after hers. The couple originally wanted to elope, but they gave in and exchanged vows surrounded by 30 close friends. The venue of the wedding was the posh New York penthouse of musician David Bowie and his supermodel wife, Iman. Bowie is a friend of Craig, and Iman and Ujjwala are very close buddies so they decided to have the wedding at Bowie and Iman's place.

Craig, Ujjwala, Kithe Brewster and Iman


​

Sparkle and Pop Celebrations
Guests began arriving at the penthouse in downtown New York at around 7:00 p.m. after which the supermodels exchanged Mimi So 24-karat gold bands. Coincidentally, the Olympics kick-off fireworks began at 8:30, making the event literally sparkle and pop. Twenty minutes later, the newly married models joined around thirty friends for a dinner.

What Ujjwala wore
Kithe Brewster, Ujjwala's stylist and friend put together the haute model's wedding day look- a baby pink Yves Saint Laurent gown from the Spring/Summer collection and a baby pink veil from Suzanne's Millinery. Her jewellery, all from the famed Mimi So included a diamond necklace, diamond bangles and drop earrings. Her other accessories included Giuseppe Zanotti shoes and a floral bouquet from Belle Fleur. Why did the Maharashtrian mulgi opt for a light colored gown and not a traditional, colorful paithani saree? Because she is the face of Yves Saint Laurent cosmetics for 2004 and the first Indian face to bag this assignment. The groom wore a white jacket, lilac shirt, and black tuxedo pants-all from YSL.

Liya Kebede, Anne V, Ujjwala and Craig


​

The Bridesmaids
Ujjwala's good friend and fellow IMG model Liya Kebede (who happens to be Estee Lauder's first ever black model) played bridesmaid. Liya wore a chocolate-brown silk YSL gown and model Anne V (who was the matron of honor) wore a pale gray YSL gown with full, apple-green bottom.

Ujjwala with bridesmaid Liya and matron of honor Anne V


​

The Cake and the Menu
The cake was a three-tiered Black Hound cake with fruit on top, accompanied by white and dark chocolate-covered strawberries. The dinner, catered by the famous Feast & Fete, included dishes like wild mushroom and lobster and celery tartlets, a chilled pea soup, crab salad, and roasted Amish chicken with young spinach and caramelised onion, summer chanterelles, spring roots and roasted fingerlings. A fruit sorbet was served for dessert.

Honeymoon
After the cheerful wedding celebrations and at the stroke of midnight, the hautest model couple flew to the Hamptons for a weekend of sun, surf and sand.

Bombay Blues
Ujjwala's Maharashtrian family could not join the couple due to the short notice, but future plans include a formal Indian wedding in Bombay. After the wedding Ujjwala's mother Damayanti was interviewed by Bombay Times, and she was obviously very happy and excited, yet a little sad that she couldn't make it to her dear daughter's special event: "It was so sudden, we couldn't be there. We wanted her to wait a bit. It's not that we don't approve of her choice, we've always felt that our daughters (Ujjwala has four sisters) should have freedom of choice when deciding a life partner. We've met Craig when he came to India. But we would have liked that it were not done in such a hurry. It was so quick that we could not be there. Ujjwala's so busy and she has very little time. She said she needed to get married now, later there would be no time with the winter shows starting. But you know, our blessings are with her. Always."

weddingsutra.com

 

[sosneha]

Ujjwala Raut: Life after motherhood
by Priyanka Jain

We caught up with international model Ujjwala Raut at the Hilton Towers, Mumbai, where she is staying with film producer hubby Craig Maxwell Sterry and their three-month old baby. Ujjwala is in India for the Fashion Week, marking her comeback to modelling after a gap of three years.

Born and brought up in Dahisar, Mumbai, this girl's big break came when she was just 17. She won the Look Of The Year award at the 1996 Miss India pageant, and things just changed overnight. Today, she has an enviable portfolio, thanks to her coming under the international spotlight after walking the ramp for Manuel Angaro and Tomford. She has also campaigned for Angelo Tarazzi, Paco Rabanne, Veronique Leroy, Claude Montana and Chanel, among many other Indian and international brands.

At 5 feet 10 inches, she has long mastered the art of carrying herself well. She also comes across as approachable and down to earth, making no bones about being an international model. So, when we asked her for tips on childcare and coping with those tricky post-pregnancy months, she obliged.

On losing baby fat
"I was always skinny, and never exercised. Back then it was difficult to do even ten crunches as my stomach would hurt. I weighed 49 kilograms before my pregnancy, after which I shot up to 70 kilograms. So, in order to walk the ramp this week, I had to lose a lot of weight and look fit. I have seen so many Hollywood stars and women in New York lose weight barely two months after pregnancy. I told myself, if they can do it, so can I.
After a customary rest period of six weeks post pregnancy, I took up a strenuous fitness regime. I worked for two hours daily, for 4-5 days a week, with my instructor in New York. We did an hour of kickboxing to tighten my stomach muscles. We also religiously followed a schedule of an hour of cardio. The more you sweat, the faster you lose weight, but one should take care about not getting dehydrated."

On her diet
"My husband has been very careful with my diet. Potatoes, pasta, rice and fried food are a strict no-no for me. I eat 4-5 small meals a day. There is no point eating two big meals as it slows the metabolism rate. I eat muffins and a small slice of cake, as I am breastfeeding, fruits and an omelette for breakfast. During the day, I eat lots of high protein food like steamed vegetables and chicken.
I don't drink a lot of juice, but I eat fruit right through the day. Water intake at regular intervals is also a must and I sometimes drink decaffeinated tea. I now weigh 59 kilograms."

On skin care
"My hormones went crazy post pregnancy and I had a lot of pimples. Again, water and fruits did the trick. My favourite beauty product is a pink blush by Giorgio Armani. It gives the cheeks a baby pink colour. I also use a rosebud lip balm.
Other tips I could suggest include getting a facial done at least once a month. Also, try a papaya mask or some natural mask that suits your skin. Apply lotion on your skin every time you wash your face. Skin should not be left without lotion as it tends to dry. Also scrub it regularly, as this helps remove dirt, black heads and white heads."

On her acting dreams
"I am taking acting classes for the first time in NY and it's quite a different experience altogether. It's so different from modelling, where we just need to look gorgeous without saying a word. Acting is much more difficult. I aim to act in films overseas and would consider Indian films too, if something worthwhile came up."

On her assets
"Photographers around the world love my never-ending legs. I wish my nose were a bit straighter though."

On the Indian fashion scene
"I think Wendell Rodricks is one designer who takes his collection to another level. He knows his mind and is confident with his offbeat ideas and garments. I think Acquin Pais is very hot, and has a great body.
To make it internationally, Indian models need to know that the focus should be on the clothes, not on them. They need to know how best to display the clothes without resorting to any drama on stage. There is so much competition that if you have an attitude, a designer or the organisers can drop you and take someone else. Men don't need to have pumped up arms and huge chests, because that looks unreal. They might as well be into weigh lifting than modelling!"

On her baby
She has been such a good baby. She doesn't give me any trouble at all. My husband has been very supportive, babysitting while I am doing the show here. My mother and younger sister are a great help too."

Photograph: Jewella C Miranda

rediff.com

 

[sosneha]

Walking tall
Supermodel Ujjwala Raut is back working the runways in India after a five-year break, says Arundhati Basu Ujjwala Raut
FACE OF THE WEEK - Ujjwala Raut

She has had the world at her feet. And now after a break of three years, supermodel Ujjwala Raut is making a comeback to modelling with ramp appearances at the Mumbai and Delhi fashion weeks. She’s going from one fashion show to another with her three-month-old baby. Ujjawla has shed the 20kg that she gained during her pregnancy and is looking as lithe as ever.
Losing the baby fat has, however, not been a cakewalk. It has involved a strenuous fitness regime that required Raut to work out two hours for four-five days a week with her instructor in New York. Add in an hour of kickboxing to tighten the stomach muscles and an hour of cardio-vascular exercises. And needless to mention, a strict high-protein diet, without potatoes, pasta, rice and fried food.
“I never needed to exercise before this. From 49kg, my weight shot up to 70kg during my pregnancy. But then so many women have lost weight barely two months after pregnancy that I was sure I could do it too,” she says.
Raut has no hesitation talking about the troubles she faced over the last few months. “My hormones went crazy and I had a lot of pimples. Water and fruit did the trick,” she says.
The subject of the conversation, two-month old Ksha (which means the letter K in Scottish), is fast asleep in her cheerful yellow cot while Raut and her husband, Craig scout the Japanese menu at The Enoki in The Grand, Delhi. “I must confess that I’ve travelled a lot with her, from New York to Paris to India. So much so that Ksha has been sleeping most of the time,” she jests.
Taking care of her three-month-old baby ensures that Raut limits herself to two or three shows a day. “But my husband loves being with her. Even though we have a babysitter, he will turn to me after some time and say that he’s been missing her. As for her, she’s completely daddy’s daughter,” she says fondly.
The 28-year-old model has recently taken on a new role as brand ambassador for fashion label Provogue. The deal is the first in the country after a five-year gap. “It is well-established and fits my international bracket. I like to see myself on the billboards here,” she says.
Her decision to walk the ramp in India at the Lakm? Fashion Week and the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week after a five-year hiatus can probably be attributed to the growing international profile of Indian fashion. Explains Raut, “People are sitting up and noticing what our designers are doing. There is so much happening on the Indian fashion scene that I just had to be a part of it.”
The 5’10” model has always had a knack of carrying herself with elan, even though she was always “tall and skinny”. “It was my elder sister who recognised my potential and, which is why I am where I am today,” she says. Born and brought up in Dahisar, Mumbai, Raut makes no bones about her upbringing ? a strict middle-class one. She says, “My father was an assistant commissioner of police. We were five sisters and it was always a fight for us to get what we wanted. Because whatever we wanted, the answer was no.”
The big break came when she was just 17. The year was 1996 and the event was the Miss India pageant, which was to change things overnight for this Mumbai girl. “I remember paying Rs 10,000 for the contest, which was a big sum in those days. Also the event was just a day before my birthday. It was difficult,” reminisces Raut who won the Look Of The Year award at the pageant. She’s quick to point out the huge difference that the presence of people like Hemant Trivedi and choreographer Lubna Adams made in her life.
“They fought for me. In the industry itself, it was tough. The older models would bully me, except for those like Madhu Sapre and Noyonika Chatterjee. Madhu would urge me to go abroad,” she says.
Her first international assignment was in Nice, France, where she made it to a list of top 15 models at the Elite Model Look of The Year contest. It was kind of an eye-opener in more ways than one. It was Raut’s first winter in France and, secondly, she came across girls from all over the world. “I can’t forget how cold it was there. As for meeting models from all over the world, it was an experience in itself. You would not think of getting along with the others, but you eventually did,” she says.
Back home, she was facing opposition from her parents who didn’t like the idea of her working abroad. Says Raut, “At times you have to make sacrifices to get what you really want. My parents weren’t happy initially, but now they’re pretty chilled out. Things change.”
Today Raut has an enviable portfolio, having coming into the spotlight internationally after walking the ramp for Manuel Angaro and Tom Ford. She has walked the ramp for Angelo Tarazzi, Paco Rabanne, Claude Montana and Chanel and campaigned for Dolce & Gabbana and Gap among many other international brands. She has also graced the covers of magazines like Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Italian Glamour and L’Officiel.
If her profession was taking Raut places, her personal life blossomed when she met Scottish film producer Craig Maxwell Sterry in France. “The night we met, he told a close friend, ‘I’ve just met my wife’,” says Raut. The couple originally wanted to elope, but they gave in and exchanged vows surrounded by a few close friends in June, 2004. The venue was the posh New York penthouse of musician David Bowie and his supermodel wife, Iman.
It was a YSL wedding. Besides the fact that Raut was the face of Yves Saint Laurent cosmetics for 2004, she was also the first Indian to bag the assignment. So her wedding dress was a baby pink YSL gown and her groom donned an all-YSL outfit from his white jacket and lilac shirt to black pants. However what was missing was the bride’s family due to the short notice. “But I got pregnant after that. I’d love a traditional Maharashtrian wedding though. My parents were a bit sad. Pray for me that I can have my Indian wedding,” says Raut with a twinkle in her eye.
Though based in New York, Raut is busy doing up a house in Alconda, Goa. The reason being that she wants her daughter “to see where she comes from”. But Raut may have other plans up her sleeve. She’s taking acting classes in New York. She says, “It’s so much more difficult than modelling where one just needs to look gorgeous without saying a word. I want to act in foreign films and Indian ones as well, if something worthwhile comes up.” Does that sound familiar?​

Photograph by Jagan Negi

telegraphindia.com

 

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Olympus Fashion Week Spring 2007 - Rock & Republic - Show

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more...Olympus Fashion Week Spring 2007 - Rock & Republic - Show

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She's seriously gorgeous.

 

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ITA. Greats legs as well! Hopefully she'll be at more shows.

 

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Chado Ralph Rucci

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