BENGALURU: Have you ever wanted to walk the ramp and try your luck at a beauty pageant? If yes, Mr and Ms Pro-fashional 2017 was where you had to be. “The contest was for people who always had that on their bucket list,” says Jyothsna Venkatesh, co-founder of the event along with Jatin Soni. It was held on September 10 at The Chancery Pavilion on Residency Road.
Twenty-four contestants, who work in various industries including IT, medicine, personal care, sales, realty and advertising, were trained over four weeks to face the spotlight. Every Sunday, for three hours, they took lessons in zumba, yoga, happiness, grooming and make-up, among other things.
Ibrahim Shariff, Assistant Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) with Bhartiya City, was declared Mr Pro-fashional 2017 and Surabhi Madaan, Deputy Manager (Client Servicing) at an advertising agency, was Ms Pro-fashional 2017.
Veena Jain, who was the Chief Guest at the event and one of the judges, says that what impressed her most about the winners was their confidence.Ibrahim says that he has walked the ramp during his college days. “This seemed like a golden opportunity and the title suggested that even your intelligence would matter,” he says. Ibrahim says that he had most fun during the talent round where he had to sing.
Surabhi had walked the ramp when she was around 10 years old. “I was always interested in fashion, but never found the time for it… and here was an event which did not need me to step away from work. The training sessions were during weekends,” she says. Jyothsna says that they saw much interest when they went to corporates promoting the event. “Nearly 55 to 60 people showed up for the auditions but we were particular about having only 24 contestants,” she says.
The organisers had wanted the pageant to be different from the usual ones. “We had no height or weight criteria, and didn’t expect people to show up with six-pack abs, they just had to be presentable and have a flair for fashion,” says Jyothsna.Bangalore Central and Khanate were the event’s fashion partners.