Her mother Sanchita Ajjampur is the force behind a global fashion brand, but 17-year-old Talisa Romagnoli never gave a future in fashion much thought. Things took a quick turn when she was scouted by top modelling agency, Next Management (their roster includes Alexa Chung amongst many others) early last year. In a brief period of nine months, she found herself shuffling between high school assignments and photo shoots with leading fashion magazines, including a fun beauty editorial in ELLE India’s March issue. Before her soft Italian-Indian features and free-spirited nature take over every runway and billboard alike, we chatted with the rising star about her journey, the things she loves most about her new job and her ultimate dream project.
ELLE: What are your earliest fashion memories?
Talisa Romagnoli : As a child, my mum would always take me along to meetings, her shows and to her factory, where I played with all the shiny materials lying around. I even modelled for one of her books and a children’s T-shirt collection when I was 12.
ELLE: Tell us a little about how you were scouted.
TR: My mum’s friend in New York happened to be with Jason Valenta, who is the director of scouting at Next Models. He saw my pictures and contacted her — it was totally by accident!
ELLE: What do you love most about the job?
TR: The fact that you can meet so many new people. And the energy on the sets is always so invigorating and motivating.
ELLE: Which supermodel do you look up to?
TR: Kate Moss, because of the way she has challenged the conventional ‘model’ image, and reinforced that you truly need to be and believe in yourself.
ELLE: Who has been your biggest support system on this path?
TR: My mom! I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t for her support. She coordinates everything and helps me manage being in high school with everything else I might have going on and keeps me super grounded.
ELLE: How would you describe your personal style?
TR: Casual but mis-matched.
ELLE: What’s your dream project?
TR: Working with Yves Saint Laurent and super talented fashion photographers like Sharif Hamza and Alasdair McLellan amongst others.
On Romangnoli: Organza top, Archana Rao.
Photographs: Farrokh Chothia
Hair and make-up: Namrata Soni
Styling: Sujala Newar
Beauty Editor: Mamta Mody
Assisted by: Nidhi Agarwal, Richa Jain (HMU)
Trisha Chawla (Beauty)
Jui Chitaliya (Styling)
