From Dubai Classrooms to the Victoria's Secret Runway: Ravleen Varghese's Dazzling Debut
What do supermodels Gigi Hadid, Bella Hadid and Adriana Lima have in common with a former Dubai schoolgirl? On October 18, they all walked the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show runway in Los Angeles — and among them was Ravleen Varghese, the 25-year-old Indian model born and raised in Dubai, who made her Victoria's Secret debut that night, Gulf News reported.
A Dubai childhood behind the dream
Gulf News revealed that Varghese completed her entire schooling at Delhi Public School in Dubai until Grade 12. Although her family hails from Kerala, the UAE was her home throughout her childhood and teenage years. Her father told the outlet that long before she shared a runway with some of the world's most recognisable supermodels, she was sketching glamorous women in elaborate outfits in her school notebooks in Dubai.
The Kerala-origin model walked twice at the star-studded show, held at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. She joined a line-up that included the Hadid sisters, Irina Shayk, Candice Swanepoel and Alessandra Ambrosio — while reality star and beauty entrepreneur Kylie Jenner also made her runway debut at the event, Gulf News reported.
From Delhi's NIFT to New York runways
Varghese's journey to the international runway was not built on modelling alone, the outlet noted. After finishing school in Dubai, she moved to India to study fashion design at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Delhi, where she earned the Handloom Heritage Award. Her father said her parents were initially reluctant about modelling but gave in seeing the opportunities come her way.
According to published accounts cited by Gulf News, she was scouted by Anima Creative Management at the age of 18, and later pursued a master's degree in Fashion Management at Parsons School of Design in New York. Her modelling portfolio grew to include international fashion and beauty assignments and a New York Fashion Week debut in 2022.
A rare runway club
Varghese joins a small group of Indian and Indian-origin models to have appeared on the Victoria's Secret runway, including Ujjwala Raut, Bhumika Arora and British-Indian model Neelam Gill, who returned for her third consecutive show this year, Gulf News reported.
For the UAE's fashion community, her debut is a home-town triumph: the girl who sketched gowns in her Dubai school notebooks now walks beside the very supermodels she used to draw.
Sources: Gulf News.