UK’s first all Asian modeling agency

London: Two women of Pakistani origin have started an all Asian modeling agency in London to fulfill the growing need for Asian looking models in the fashion industry. 'Caramel Asian Model Management' is the UK's first full-service Asian model agency. The agency is a one stop shop for clients looking to put on a fashion show. Caramel provides everything required including models, choreography, hair and make-up artists, music, lighting and backstage technicians. Sadia Naim (a model) and Hajira Ahmad (a fashion photographer) came up with the idea after watching numerous Asian fashion shows in London that actually had no Asian models in them. "There were not enough Asian models! I was doing shows in which most of the models were caucasian or white and I used to think to myself we should promote Asian models. But I mean designers used to say, we can't find Asian models they're not there so we thought there's a gap in the market - lets fulfill that," said Naim. The came up with the name Caramel as that is how they describe their skin colour - as caramel comes in different shades. The agency launched last August with a show at the Cafe De Paris in London. At first, Caramel's 14 models were getting work primarily on Asian wedding shows, but gradually over the last year the range and number of jobs has grown. Caramel now has 32 models who are doing magazine shoots, commercials, music videos and one model even has a movie deal. Naim credits some of the success to the fact Caramel was started in the UK. "I think we are lucky to be based in the UK because this is the ideal country to break into. Indians and Pakistanis - Asians make one of the largest ethnic minorities in the UK. Because there are so many of us here and because Asians have really integrated themselves into the British society you can see Asians doing well literally in every segment of British society. So this is the ideal scenario for an Asian modeling agency to make its mark." Ahmad added that the agency's introduction in to the modeling world helped them to get a spring board in to the industry. "As soon as we started actually the first month we had a very big audition we were invited to take part in which is the Asian Wedding Exhibition which is one of the biggest shows that takes place in London on the Asian wedding front. So we had 10 models that were selected for that so that was our first big job. Getting in that show was a good idea because we meet all the designers and the all people in the middle of it all were in that show and that was a really good introduction to Caramel." Naim and Ahmad admit that one reason why Asian models have not made an impact in mainstream modeling agencies is because of their height. Ahmad said it is very rare to find a 5 foot 10 inch (178 cm) tall Asian woman, which is what mainstream modeling agencies require. She said the average height of Asian women is 5"5 (165 cm.) Asian models are still yet to make an impact in mainstream advertising campaigns in the UK. Richard Pinder, President of the Leo Burnett Adverting Agency for Europe the Middle East and Africa thinks this is something that is not going to change any time soon. "You basically see models that people feel comfortable to see and find aspiration to look at. So its models that are not going to challenge people too much to think about the model so much as to look at the brand," said Pinder. However Pinder believes global economic trends will filter through in to the advertising world. "In the future I think we are going to see more and more models from the countries that are expanding and growing economically. If you look at what's happening in Brazil one of the world's greatest models comes from Brazil. It is not a problem to a different look provided that look does not challenge people too much as to the history of the person and why is this brand linking with this look." Bureau Report