Top int model Agbani Darego

An average Nigerian would love to strut the fashion runways like the beautiful skinny people we see in fashion shows on TV and magazines. However, an average Nigerian is not skinny and may find it very difficult to strut fashion runways in Paris, Europe and America unless of course there is a modelling agency that could push the big sized model concept to the runways in Europe.

According to Elohor Aisien, the managing director of Beth models, an average model must stand at a height of 5.7ft, the body mass should be between size four and size eight, breasts between 30 and 34, waist should be between 23 and 26, while the hips should be 34 and 35. In addition to this statistics, a model should also have attitude and carriage. ”She may be the ugliest person on earth but, the way she carries herself will make people like her,” Aisien says.

Aisien, whose agency had to team up with Elite Model International for the purpose of pushing Nigerian models to the international scene, observed the lack of international modelling agency in Nigeria, noting the increasing desire in Nigerian girls to become models.

Having reigned as Miss Nigeria United Kingdom at one time, she feels that Nigerian girls need to be given a shot on international runways. In an effort to actualise this theory, she has for the past five years been sourcing Nigerian-born models for Elite Model International through her programme, Elite Model Look.

Advice to Nigerian would be models:

An aspiring model has to be photogenic. In order to achieve the figure of a model specified by Aisien, another model trainer, Kelvin Duke, advises the individual to eat the right food at the right time. Eat plenty of fruits and drink plenty of water. ”Also exercises are very important, the basic sit ups to tone the stomach and other exercises are necessary to achieve the model figure,” Duke says.

Aisien says a model can start a meal by taking cereal in the morning, followed by light snacks or salads in the afternoon and an evening meal before 7pm.

While not ruling out the possibility of a fat person becoming a model, Aisien agrees that there are different markets in Nigeria: some may want to work with big people, while some may want to work with slim people. According to her, the market will require them to be at least size 16. Most African people are not size 16; they are 12 and 14.

For ladies who want to model, it is advisable to take advantage of model searches and reality shows going on in all the states of the federation. People like Oluchi and Agbani Darego that have gained international recognition have been able to showcase the beauty and grace that Nigerian women possess to the outside world.