The visage of Malliha Ahmad caught me totally off guard. It was at the recent glamor celebrity screening of William Turnbull’s new documentary (as narrated by Jude Law) in London that the quixotic image of Malliha Ahmad caught my attention. All I could think as I kept eyeing this slinky madamemoiselle was who was she and how could I get in touch with her?
A few phone calls later, frantic texts and our man Dan Stern of the fabulous streetfashionmonitor.com (who’s images of street fashion photography rival that of the sartorialist) had me my girl.
A native of New York, it seems our Malhilla has been creating some waves on the international modeling market (thank you very much…). With some prestigious gigs to her name, Armance Rotceig in Paris, Lait Noir in Milano, NYNPHA (former designer of Givenchy) Milano, Nicholas Putvinski (NYC-Project Runway), Chic.tv in Europe, EMODA-Japan, Fashion One TV in Asia and whatever else this femme fatale was getting her hands on. That said, I caught up with the ever delightful Malliha and set up about finding what makes this hot chic tick. Let’s find out…
When and how did you start modeling?
I absolutely love love love Fashion, its art, freedom of expression, and ephemeral. I cannot see myself in any other industry; fashion is always going to be running through my veins. I started modeling a couple of years ago in NYC! I started by surrounding myself with the right people, and I also started during fashion week (which was the best time to start in NYC) and things went well from there.
What was your attitude towards modeling when you first began? How has it evolved?
In the beginning, I thought it was a bit of a rough industry, but as time went on I have realized that life is truly what you make it and things have unfolded in miraculous ways. I realized that you have to love yourself and know your limitations…everything else will correlate with the energy that you put out there. My outlook on modeling has changed tremendously I see it as an art, and I love getting into character ^_^
Is modeling all glamor?
Modeling is glamour, its fun, its sexy, its edgy, its crazy, it’s intriguing, its exciting, it’s a courage, its love, its beauty, its perfection, its art, it’s spontaneous, and its fast paced. It’s truly a lifestyle filled with beautiful people, moments, and experiences.
I love it… I love it!
Describe for us what a typical day for you includes?
A typical day consists of castings, meetings, yoga (if I have time), updating my blogs (lovelymali.com & malliha.com), photography, photo shoots, eating yummy food, strutting around NYC (or wherever I am in the world) listening to music and running errands, attending events, and catching up with loved ones.
Have you ever had a designer/photographer or casting agent promise explicitly or implicitly if you acquiesced to their wishes you would get booked? Is that something female models are regularly exposed to? I have been made several promises and I think that it’s apart of this industry and just about any other industry. People have the tendency to talk and sale you dreams… you just have to trust your instincts and differentiate between the phony and the real.
What was the hardest city for you to model in to date? The strangest? The most lucrative?
I do not have a city that was hard or strange, but the most lucrative so far was Milano and London.
What’s the most loneliest place to have to try and model? The most difficult market to break in? How does a model even break in?
Spain was a place that was difficult to break in to (it’s racist)…it is a country that isn’t so fashion forward… You truly have to know someone to break into the industry. When I was there, I ended up going to the beach almost every day!
(interview and pictures continue onto page 3).
