While attending a party with a friend, he would have never thought he would be on the pages of the fashion industry’s most prestigious magazine. Uber Punjabi had a chance to catch up with Manak Singh who made it into the fashion world posing for names like Canali and Tommy Hilfiger for the world famous GQ Magazine.
Full Name: Manak Singh
Birthdate: 18th September
Hometown: New Delhi
Life Motto: Always believe in yourself and never stop dreaming
Tell us a little about yourself?
I come from a business family, We are looking to get into the healthcare field in India by setting up a state of the art multi- specialty hospital in Haryana, India. I have an elder brother who is based out of Washington, and I stay with parents in Delhi. I got married a year and a half ago, and have a beautiful wife whose name is Harpriya.
I have always taken pride in my identity all thanks to my parents and my family. Being the youngest, I have elder brothers and sisters to look up to. I always idolized my father, as he is one of the most handsome sardarji’s I know! Always well turned out, he is the easiest to spot in a crowd and always stands out. I emulate him in everything I do. The reason I got noticed has a lot to do with the style sense passed down by my father to me.
I have always been and am very proud to be a full keshdari Sikh and am very glad that the fashion industry is moving away from the stereotypical model look. I hope I am able to inspire the Sikh youth to believe in themselves and always know that there is no field in which one can say – Sikhs will not be able to excel here.
How
did you get the opportunity to be featured in GQ? 
How I got noticed for this is a very filmy story. Like many other young Sikh boys and men I too used to always complain when I would see a non-Sikh walk the ramp wearing a turban, or when in movies one would see non-Sikh actors portraying the role of a turbaned Sikh. One day I was having this discussion with my friend Meher who is studying anthropology in fashion and she gave me the encouragement by saying that you shouldn’t just complain, but try and do something about it.
At a restaurant food tasting, invited by the same friend, I got a chance to interact with many of her friends from the world of fashion. While I was standing with a few friends just chatting, Vijendra Bhardwaj GQ Fashion Director, walks up to me, (At the time I didn’t who he was) and says I would love to shoot you! For a second I thought it was a joke, until he took out his business card and handed it to me! We exchanged numbers and he told me that he would get in touch.
He did call and today I have a spread of three full-page images featured in GQ’s Autumn/Winter Collection! So I can absolutely take no credit for this, all credit goes to Vijendra’s foresight to consider me a candidate good enough for his magazine.
What kind of response have you gotten to the shot with your hair open?
I have not read anything about. It was actually not even planned. Canali was the first shot and when I was changing my turban for the Tommy Hilfiger shot, the photographer asked if he could do one shot with my hair down. My first response was – how. They made it clear it was just to show a full keshdari Sikh. I was open to it because it would clear curiosity and help people understand what’s under the turban. I had two images with a turban and one without. Plus as long as my hair was not being shown in a derogatory manner I was open to it.
I am a full keshdari Sikh and if I have made it to GQ so can you. That was also one of the main reason I did it without my turban. I wanted the world to know I wasn’t just a model who has a beard and made to wear a turban for the shoot.
How has being in GQ helped you and do you see yourself being a model?
It’s helped me transforming my life from day to day entrepreneur to someone who gets featured in a fashion magazine. However here I must add that the photographer Errikos Andrews made the experience smooth as a breeze as he helped me feel super comfortable and made me have very fun experience. I have received so much adulation and good wishes. It’s been such a humbling and daunting experience. Whether I do any more modeling or not, this one experience has definitely changed my life. From seeing the response, it reinstated my belief that we can do anything, but we must continue to dream and never stop believing in yourself.
We
have seen Sikh models in Louis Vuitton, GAP, and now GQ magazine.
What do you think about this trend?
I feel finally the fashion industry has taken the first step and started the trend. We stand out. In fashion, if you want your stuff to stand out, what better way than to have a Sikh model it! Your outfit will stand out along with the model. We have an identity that portrays a regal look with a Taj on our head. It gives an edge to us. The industry is looking less for clean-shaven or size zero model which it was doing for many years. With visionaries like Vijendra who find accidental models, it paves a path for younger youth like me to get into this field.
What are your career goals and do you see yourself pursuing a career in modeling?
Career goal would be tough question for me to answer at this point considering since the launch of this magazine I had been in USA through September. The love and adulation I have received from people has been humbling. People from across the globe have been sharing my pictures and I have read some of the comments and it has been very encouraging. I would like to thank artists like Manj Musik, Raftaar, and Nindy Kaur for supporting me and sharing my pictures; extending their reach beyond shores.
At the moment my goal is to become someone the Punjabi youth could look up to and now that I am back in India I would love to explore more opportunities in the fashion industry that come my way.
If I do become successful in this field, I would love to set up a platform that can help launch young people who are interested to enter into the fashion industry as models. Whether I do more modeling assignments or not I would like to work towards increasing the representation of the Punjabi community in the world.
Interviewed and published by Uber Punjabi