Rising to fame as the first Indian model to be cast in a Burberry campaign (and as the rumored gf of Zayn Malik), Neelam Gill is using her platform to speak out against racism in the fashion industry. In an interview with ES Magazine, Gill revealed the racism she’s experienced not only at castings, but from back in her school years, and more recently, online, ever since the Zayn rumors surfaced. “The comments I’ve received have been 90 per cent good, but one bad remark can ruin your day,” she said of the tweets aimed at her. “I don’t care if people call me ugly but when it is about your skin color, that is unacceptable. I can’t believe some messages aren’t taken down from news sites. I see comments such as “she is black as f***”, or “like that refugee I saw on TV”, and then they find my family and troll them.” Spurred on by these trolls, Gill went on to post a video to her YouTube page called, “RANT ON SOCIETY, BULLIES, SELF LOVE AND DEPRESSION!!!”
But she does admit that the fashion industry at least, is improving. Making her catwalk debut in September 2013 for Burberry, and shooting the campaign the following February with Mario Testino, she became the first Indian face of Burberry. “They made my skin darker with spray tan,” Gill said about the day of the shoot. “They wanted to make me glowing because I was the first Indian to model for the brand and they were proud of that.” Since then the Punjabi beauty has walked in Kanye West’s adidas show, appeared in British Vogue, and graced the cover of Elle India. Regarding the industry’s relationship with race, Gill said: “The industry is improving – but there is a long way to go. There needs to be a major change in model casting. A lot of shows cast non-white models as a token thing. I have never seen a show with more than one black, Asian or Indian girl, which is frustrating.”
Read more on Neelam Gill’s views on feminism, racism and the size 0 debate here.