The Indian fashion industry has significantly transformed in recent years. Fashion models are struggling to earn and make an identity in the industry. Maintaining fame is getting difficult as actors, celebrities and social media influencers who upload random videos on social media end up modeling for big brands. What was once the exclusive domain of trained professionals in high heels and couture now often resembles a red carpet or a viral Instagram reel.
Influencers getting to model for brands could be a good thing but in order to keep the authentic modelling process alive, brands must approach legitimate modelling agencies and hire trained models to model for them. Designers choose a popular celebrity to be the showstopper for their fashion shows but there have been certain incidents lately where the showstopper actually became the talk of the ‘gram for all the wrong reasons. Even though showstoppers aren’t professional models, when they walk the ramp they need to keep in mind the rules of modeling and respect the art of modelling without overshadowing the rest of the models.
The Original Essence of Ramp Walks
The ramp walks are made to focus entirely on the designer’s garment and their creativity when models wear it and walk the ramp. Models are the ones who bring a designer’s ideas to life on the ramp, using their walk, expressions, and presence to highlight the outfits and present the story behind the collection. They have to carry the designer’s clothes with grace and respect. They need to focus on their gestures, posture and most importantly their walk. This maintains the focus of the audience on the garment unlike when the designer hires an actor to be the showstopper, they end up stealing the focus from the garment to themselves and the entire point of the ramp walk or the fashion show doesn’t make any sense.
Bollywood Meets the Catwalk
Over the years, there has been a noticeable rise in actors being hired as showstoppers at fashion weeks. Initially, the showstoppers were limited to finale walks but now they’re part of the entire show which results in shifting the entire subject of the show. Many popular celebrities like Ranveer Singh, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Malaika Arora, and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, have a history of walking the ramp for various designers and fashion shows. Many other Bollywood stars are hired and embraced by designers to gain media attention, brand buzz and gain popularity.
Famous Indian fashion designers have highlighted this issue by talking about it in various interviews like in an interview featured, Rohit Bal commented, “Maybe a showstopper is used by a lot of people as a disguise, for the lack of their talent.” He critiqued the over-reliance on celebrities as a marketing gimmick rather than showcasing real design prowess. Bal also noted that the prominence of Bollywood in India’s fashion industry often stems from sponsor demands rather than the designers’ preferences.
Reel to Ramp
Since the COVID pandemic in 2020, many people have started creating different types of content on various social media platforms. People started calling themselves content creators and influencers. In the course of a few years, ‘Influencer’ and ‘Content creator’ have become legitimate job titles. Nowadays, almost the entire world runs on social media and influencers and content creators have earned their share of love, respect and fame from the audience by consistently uploading videos on their respective social media pages. Names like Komal Pandey, Ankush Bahuguna, Kusha Kapila have become really popular among the Indian youth. As a result, they are invited by designers to walk the ramp. They are seen as direct access to a younger generation of audience who look up to and follow these influencers.
Professional Models Trumped by Stardom
Indian model Tamanna Katoch recently addressed the issue of celebrities overshadowing professional models on the runway. After her poised walk behind Bollywood actress Janhvi Kapoor at Lakmé Fashion Week 2025 garnered widespread acclaim, Tamanna shared her thoughts on Instagram. In her post, she suggested that professional models should be considered for showstopper roles instead of celebrities, sparking a broader discussion on the topic.
People train for years to get perfect to be able to walk the ramp as models. They struggle a lot in order to become a model by following a certain diet, regularly grooming themselves, mental struggle and a lot more. When they finally manage to achieve it, they get overshadowed by celebrities which doesn’t allow them to get recognised by the audience and other designers. Such incidents demotivate them as fewer opportunities come their way despite the professionalism and skill, which might lead to models exiting the industry and staying in the shadows forever by living a regular life.
Marketing Over Fashion Models Skill
Although fashion is all about how designers creatively and innovatively design their garments and how the audience perceives and appreciates them, nowadays somehow designers have shifted their focus more to the marketing of their designs than showcasing their talent to the world. The entire point of fashion weeks now revolves around the promotion and who walks the ramp as a showstopper rather than highlighting the designer’s work.
Designers are aiming for creating their own brand more than creating the art. The industry might be losing its purity or just adapting to a newer version where fashion runs on marketing.
This issue has sadly spread globally, where international designers use popular celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Zendaya, Timothee Chalamet, etc. to walk the ramp to model for their designs. This has influenced the Indian fashion industry too, which results in keeping aspiring models in the dark. Social media too plays a big role in the changing consumption of fashion. Celebrities walking the ramp benefit the designers as it brings them mass attention and helps them build a brand but it deprives the models from getting the limelight and creates obstacles in their modelling career. Designers could try striking a balance by keeping actors and influencers as occasional showstoppers and allowing aspiring models to receive the limelight and have their own space which will let them succeed in their flourishing modelling careers.
The fashion industry must focus more on the art than promoting it because fashion critics are aware who to appreciate and who must make some changes. This will help the right people to earn a name for themselves, based on their talent. If models, actors and influencers focus on building their own careers in their own industry, they can all peacefully coexist, if done thoughtfully.
