The Face of Oxford Fashion Week 2014 talks about his experience

One of the most significant milestones of my existence was winning the title of “Face of Oxford” in 2014 for Oxford Fashion Week. Suddenly, I was no longer an invisible researcher in the laboratory, but someone the populace wanted to know.

I had heard about models being mere glorified mannequins – simply meant to look good and act as a clothes hanger – so welcomed my new assignment as an opportunity not to foster this stereotype, but to defy such adages and clichés.

What followed was one of the wildest expeditions of my life – I was in Oxford with the creative and risk-taking Oxford Fashion Week team. Being “The Face”, I had my first set of interviews with the press – which was overwhelming – all of which occurred on the very day I handed in my second masters thesis. I still remember waiting backstage in a Jigsaw ensemble for my first catwalk for the High Street Collections, with my heart palpitating, waiting to perform.

My favourite show was the Birds of Paradise finale, in the midst of the larger than life setting of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. I had a feeling of belonging, that my history had somehow amalgamated with the history of the museum’s. It gave me goose bumps and I knew my life was never going to be the same.

And it never really was – things were changing at a fast pace – I had graduated and was offered a place as an academic visitor at Oxford University to research in experimental psychology and at the same time I was signed by three modelling agencies in London and one in Oxford.

Now, I have a fashion shoot almost every other week and every time, I feel the same excitement as the first time, although I feel much more poised facing the camera now. Although I live in Oxford, I am from Mumbai, so my next move is to take the profile of Asian men to the next level as I believe that Indian men are under represented in western fashion and the media, and when they are, they are usually typecast. Have you ever seen an Indian male lead in a Hollywood movie or English TV series? If so, you can count them on one hand – very few!

This is my personal challenge and am already in talks with a few agents in London after having been confirmed to star in a Bollywood movie being shot in the England later this year. My short term plans are enrolling on a short RADA course, getting into the spotlight for sure and processing my Dphil application.

On an academic level, my research interests lie in analysing the multisensory perception of food, with a special focus on novel foods – a topic I wish to get local and global attention for, especially the introduction of insect foods as they have their own contributions to make to food sustainability and security. I am currently organising a talk in Spain about the neuroscience and psychology underlying the acceptance of such foods and other interesting themes such as criminology and marketing.

I have always been asked to choose between academia and the media but throughout my life, I have worked and studied both and I’m simply unwilling to make a compromise. I believe that my creative and expressive side needs a vent which I gain through the media. So I plan to increase my visibility and association with the western media whether in a TV series or movies, along with continuing to research the field of applied psychology and neuroscience, and perhaps even combining these interests at some point. I believe that mass communication in every format is an integral part of bringing about advancements and acceptance.

On a lighter note - I look forward to this season of Oxford Fashion Week. It’s bigger and better than ever. My heartfelt congratulations to Natalie Page on winning this season’s contest - she is one of the warmest people I have met and as her journey unfolds, I wish her all the luck. So do come along to see Oxford Fashion Week.

Oxford Fashion Week runs from March 3 - 7.
www.oxfordfashionweek.com