Mona Bhujel Makes Her CHANEL Runway Debut in Paris

“I do feel that sometimes the industry wants my face but not my story. For a long time, there’s been a fascination with the look of the Northeast but less curiosity about the people behind it, our languages, our food, our communities. I come from an Indian-Nepali background and that’s part of who I am, not a detail to leave at the door. I hope that when people see me at a show like Chanel, it opens a door for others from our region and conversations move from ‘she looks different’ to ‘she’s á”

“Some days they hurt, but I learned not to read every ‘no’ as the end of the story. I kept working on myself, showing up to the next casting and trusting that if this was meant for me, the right opportunity would come. Walking for Chanel felt like all the waiting finally made sense. It reminds me that the journey sometimes takes longer than you expect, but that doesn’t mean you’re not moving forward.”