62-year-old Sikh cabbie turns runway model for top fashion brand

Ajit Singh's chance encounter with a top New York fashion label executive got him a runway gig at New York Men's Fashion Week.

Ajit Singh Source: wwd.com

Ajit Singh Bharth, a Turbaned cabbie in New York city, had a pretty ordinary day until a top fashion company executive hoped in his yellow taxi in mid July. The chance encounter got Mr. Bharth a modelling gig for the fashion label and the very next morning he was walking the runway at the Men’s Fashion Week in New York.

Quinton Clemm, an account executive at upscale men’s fashion-label Eidos, told The Wall Street Journal he was struck by the “older gentleman” with “gold-rimmed, aviator-style bifocals, a tan spread-collar shirt, with an awesome, full, white beard.”

"I only caught a glimpse of his profile, but as the cab pulled off from the curb and into the traffic, I knew that I had to catch this cab. After jogging two blocks after the vehicle, Bharth caught a traffic light and I hopped into the back of his cab," The Times of India quoted him as saying.

Eidos Men's RTW Spring 2017 Source: wwd.com

Clemm quickly made his offer to Bharth to participate in an hour's presentation of models showcasing the season's collection.

"I engaged Bharth in conversation, asking him where he was from and how long he had lived in the city , and I even asked if I could click his photo. He very kindly obliged at a traffic light, and as we headed downtown together I told him a little bit about Eidos as well as the collection on which we were currently working."

The 62-year-old cabbie was surprised at the offer, but accepted it for the sake of a “new experience”.

Eidos creative director Antonio Ciongoli told Esquire that he likes to have  people who look like they have some real life experience under their belt, something not often found among 20-year-old models.

"Models tend to project fantasy, whereas a lot of people are more interested in the concept of reality. You see someone with truly great style on the street, it makes you want to incorporate that." 

This has come at a time when the Sikh community in the US is trying to create awareness about their identity at the back of numerous incidents of alleged crimes motivated by race against them. 

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