That reel is not going to put food on your plate: Indian model slams fashion shows for unfair pay

Time of India

4 hours ago

Indian model Roshni Sharma ignited a debate by exposing the fashion industry's exploitation, citing low pay and emotional manipulation. Veteran Sonalika Sahay and other models supported her, highlighting issues like bloggers earning more and backlash for demanding fair wages. They emphasized the need for collective action to address the industry's broken economics and ensure models receive fair compensation and respect.
For an industry built on glamour, the Indian fashion world has a dark, hushed reality, one that many models have lived through, but few have dared to voice. That is, until now.
Earlier this week, model Roshni Sharma took to Instagram with a candid, no-holds-barred post that pulled the veil off the deeply ingrained exploitation models face on the runway.
Her words were raw, pointed, and painfully honest, a mirror held up to an industry that often celebrates beauty while quietly underpaying the very women who walk for it.
'The rates for a fashion week especially for a pool model should be around 40k minimum per day and the stay and travel should included - if you are someone with experience and have walked a lot, please don't feel insecure and ask for a better budget, if you think you deserve it.
If you're with an agency, always ask your agent to pay you at higher rates than the previous season,' she wrote.
Roshni didn't stop there. She called out how models are often emotionally manipulated with promises of going viral or being 'seen,' especially when walking for high-profile events like leading fashion weeks.
'That reel is not going to put food on your plate neither on anybody's plate,' she added.
She also highlighted the physical toll of the job.
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'When you walk as a model, you are basically putting in efforts of being in measurements that is very very difficult to maintain with the right kind of food and the right kind of wellness routine. The brand that you walk for are making hundred times the amount you get paid when you walk for them. Please be smart before it's too late.'
The response was instant and intense.
Fashion veteran Sonalika Sahay echoed Sharma's sentiment, shedding light on a bigger, systemic problem.
'Good point, Roshni. Rates have hit rock bottom, largely because agencies are offering models to these fashion weeks simply for mileage. Add to that the internal undercutting cartel, and it's become a deeply unhealthy ecosystem,' she commented.
'We've now reached a stage where, on some occasions, bloggers are paid more than the models on the ramp. What's worse is that asking for your rightful show rate often invites backlash.
The industry has become so fragmented that even our own people resist any attempt to raise standards. Fixing this would require a collective effort. We have tried for years but it feels like trying to rein in a mammoth,' added Sahay.
Other models chimed in, validating the growing frustration. Model Teajay Gill didn't mince his words: 'Models taking up campaign shoots and big TVCs for 30–40k and shows for 5–10k have ruined the market.'
Model Mannat Khanna simply added: 'Someone had to say it. Thank you.'
The modelling industry in India has always had two faces, one that shines under the runway lights and another that quietly absorbs the exploitation. What these voices are doing is bringing both into focus.
It's not just about low rates. It's about dignity. Fairness. Acknowledgement of the time, effort, and physical discipline it takes to maintain a sample-size body, be on call for castings, deal with last-minute fittings, and bring a designer's vision to life, only to be told that exposure should be enough of a reward.
When models are penalised for asking for a decent paycheque, when bloggers and influencers, no shade to them, are paid higher simply for reach, and when fashion weeks continue to rake in profits while their core talent remains under-compensated, something is fundamentally broken.
And for an industry that thrives on aesthetics and progressiveness, it's ironic how regressive its economics can be.
If this post by Roshni Sharma sparks even a small shift in how models value themselves and how the industry values them, it will be a step forward. Because exposure doesn't pay rent. And reels, as she put it, don't put food on your plate.
The Indian fashion industry may be watching, but the question is, will it listen?