Lakshmi Menon (born 4 November 1981) is an Indian

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

Career

She took up modelling to earn money while studying for a degree in sociology at the

Bangalore University Bangalore University (BU) is a public state university located in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The university is a part of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and affiliated by Univer ...

. She married Suhel Seth on Christmas of 2018 in Delhi . A modeling scout approached her and told her she had the height enon is 1.8 meters, or 5 feet, 10 inchesto get some ad work. She started modeling full-time after college, but although she worked in India for several years, she says "I never had much success since all the big ad campaigns featured Bollywood starlets". After modelling in India for several years, she began her international career in 2006 after Jean Paul Gaultier saw her work in an Indian magazine while looking for an Indian model to walk in his Chanel show in Paris. A show for

Jean Paul Gaultier Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 April 1952) is a French haute couture and prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an "enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs including corset ...

was followed by work on the

Hermès Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès ( , ), is a French luxury design house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Its logo, since ...

catwalk and campaigns for

Max Mara Max Mara (Italian aks 'ma:ra is an Italian fashion business. It markets up-market ready-to-wear clothing. It was established in 1951 in Reggio Emilia by Achille Maramotti (7 January 1927 – 12 January 2005). In March 2008, the company had 2, ...

Givenchy Givenchy (, ) is a French luxury fashion and perfume house. It hosts the brand of haute couture and ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics of Parfums Givenchy. The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert de ...

, H&M,

J Crew J.Crew Group, Inc., is an American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer. The company offers an assortment of women's, men's, and children's apparel and accessories, including swimwear, outerwear, lounge-wear, bags, sweaters, denim, dre ...

Bergdorf Goodman Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is a luxury department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son, Andrew Goodman. ...

Bloomingdales Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a div ...

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...

, and

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, a ...

. Menon was featured in French ''Vogue'' editorial for the first time in October 2008, after her Milan show for La Perla, in which she walked for D&G and Givenchy. She has also appeared in editorials for American, Spanish, Indian, and French ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', '' Harper's Bazaar'', '' V Magazine'', '' Dazed & Confused'', Indian ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'', and '' Allure''. She won the "This year’s Model" crown awarded by ''Vogue'' for 2008. She was also in the Top 10 Newcomers by Style.com and on the cover of ''Elle'' the same year. Indian photographer

Prabuddha Dasgupta Prabuddha Dasgupta (21 September 1956 – 12 August 2012) was an Indian fashion and fine-art photographer. Known for his black and white imagery, he worked as a fashion photographer for more than three decades. His books included ''Women'' ...

said of Menon that "She’s dusky, flawless and the true face of beauty. She’s worked with Jean Paul Gaultier, Hermes, Chanel -- and is the face of the future." ''Vogue'' said in 2008 that she was "quite the embodiment of Givenchy's new-season style". She featured in the 2011

Pirelli Calendar The Pirelli Calendar, known and trade-marked as "The Cal", is an annual trade calendar which has been published by the UK subsidiary of the Italian tyre manufacturing company Pirelli since 1964. The calendar has a reputation for its choice of ...

, photographed by

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...

and is the first Indian model to feature in a Pirelli calendar.

Personal life

Menon splits her time between Goa, Alibaug, and Mumbai. Until his untimely death in 2012, her partner of twelve years was the photographer

. She was in a relationship with architect Bijoy Jain in 2013. In December 2018, she married Suhel Seth. They have a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, Lakshmi 1981 births Living people Indian female models Female models from Kerala Bangalore University alumni