HOMETOWN GLORY

Despite having scaled the heights of global success, model and creative multi-hyphenate Amrit is still tethered tightly to her Punjabi roots and committed to proving that she's more than a pretty face, writes ARUSHI SINHA. Photographed by ASHISH SHAH. Styled by NIKHIL MANSATA

- ARUSHI SINHA

Amrit may be the small-town Indian girl who has captured the beau monde’s imagination, but that’s far from being the most interesting thing about her. The Punjab-born model admits that she sees herself more as an artist than a muse, despite having made her runway debut in 2020 for Chloé at Paris Fashion Week. But if there’s one thing I learnt about her from our conversation, it’s that Amrit is more interested in charting her own path than she is in keeping up with the Joneses.

Amrit recounts her teenage years as being characterised by sagging self-esteem and an unbridled terror of facing the camera, which is more than a little surprising when measured against her objectively striking face and undeniable success as a model. She shares that she would run to the bathroom to hide during family photos—a testament to how camera-shy she really was. A confluence of self-deprecation and stringent societal standards for women-led her to conclude that she “wasn’t very beautiful” as a young woman.