Naomi Janumala stands outside of Blank Slate in NoMad in hot-pink track pants and a cut-off white tank top — everyday wear to the average passerby in New York, but for the traditional culture she hails from, the look proves quite exhilarating. “In Mumbai, I can’t even go out like this because if I do everyone on the street will look at me, and I’ll feel awkward like I have to go home and change,” she told Models.com.
This new sense of freedom is one of the many reasons Janumala has adjusted to living on the other side of the world so seamlessly. She quickly transcended the Indian market after signing to her Mumbai-based mother agency, Anima Creative, counting her “big break” as appearing in a huge Levi’s billboard in Berlin. But arguably, her even bigger break has been starring in none other than Rihanna’s FENTY campaign in June. We spoke to the rising model about working with the huge pop star, moving overseas to take her career to the next level, and inspiring other hopeful models with her strong look.
What made you want to get started in modeling?
Until I was 14, I didn’t know I was going to model. Like no idea, it was nowhere close. 16 was when my braces came off and my glasses came off and I was like ‘oh, so this is my face?’ And it wasn’t just me, it was everyone around me saying ‘you could model.’ I started letting my hair out which is naturally really curly and huge.
How did you get your start and even know where to look?
I didn’t have to look. I knew a few agencies in India that I wanted to approach but the top one, Anima Creatives — which my mother agency is — found me on Instagram one random day. The director of the agency messaged me saying ‘we’d really like to meet you because we love your Instagram and it’d be amazing if we could set up a meeting.’
What was the opportunity like working with Rihanna for FENTY?
When I got the phone call I was like, ‘what the hell is going on? Rihanna’s shooting so I’m going to be on set with Rihanna for 12 hours? WHAT?!’ I thought it would be very intimidating because she’s so huge and she’s even shooting it so [I wondered] how is she going to be? But shooting with her was like shooting with a friend or an older sister. She doesn’t make you feel like she’s a celebrity or higher than you. She told me ‘leave your septum in, do your hair on your own’ — I did the hair myself! Rihanna just being Rihanna. She just made us so comfortable.
What was the transition like from Mumbai to New York?
When I got here, the second day I called my mom and said ‘I’m moving here. This is my place.’ This is literally where I wanted to be. I’d say Mumbai and New York are similar cities. Not the people, because the people in Mumbai are still narrow-minded. They’ll judge you if you wear high-waisted shorts and crop tops. But it wasn’t hard for me to adjust in New York. You have more rejections compared to Mumbai because in Mumbai it’s more of a direct booking.
Do girls back home in India reach out to you and what advice do you have for those that want to achieve similar things as you?
Yeah and especially now after FENTY. It was a huge deal because it was a 19-year-old brown girl doing FENTY so that gave me a platform to let other dark-skinned, young, aspiring models know that if I can do it you guys can do it too. Your skin color doesn’t matter, where you’re from doesn’t matter. I’ve been bullied all my life for being a dark-skinned Indian which is funny to me because India’s a brown-skinned country, so for Indians to bully me for having brown skin and a skinny body is ironic. If you’re a brown skin girl and you want to model go ahead and model. Plus-sized or skinny just go ahead and do it no matter what people say. People everywhere will keep talking but just do you.
In campaigns, people can visually see that you are a brown-skinned model and a person of color. Is that something you plan to actively be vocal about in your career?
Oh yeah, my whole career. Since the day I moved to New York to start my career, I’ve been getting messages from girls like, ‘we’ve been following you since 2015, 2016 and now you’re making it so big. You inspire me.’ Just hearing that — things that I do are actually inspiring people? So I’m going to take advantage of that and use it whenever I can just to let young Indian girls know that you can do it.
