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Woman of Style: Saira Mohan - Global Model

Saira Mohan isn't your average supermodel. Sure, you've seen her grace the cover of Newsweek (as the global face of beauty) and splashed across the covers of Elle and Stuff Magazine - what she is though, is diverse. With a background of Indian (from her father's side) and Irish-French (from her mother's side) this global beauty can play just about any role magazines want her to play from a Latina to Indian to European. Her style is as cultured as she is. Find out her most prized signature style, what inspires her when it comes to fashion and people and her simple standard of beauty...

FACTIO MAGAZINE: What’s your signature style?  SAIRA MOHAN: My baby and my husband.

FM: Define the style in New York City, Chicago and India? What is your favorite and why?
SM: New York City has nice diversity. Actually, I can get an idea of a city’s diversity by the varying styles walking down the street. In Chicago and India, and many other cities, things can become rather “one note”. Since New York is the most diverse, it’s my favorite. Chicago reminds me of sweats on weekends and India reminds me of new fashions that end up looking like the same old thing.

FM: What ladies (from which city worldwide) have great style and why? And, where is your favorite place to travel?
SM: I really like Jemima Khan’s style. I also think Queen Rania is stylish, beautiful, and classy. Most of the women whose style attracts me are truly global in their experience. They can’t really be pegged to one place or another. Having said that, I like to travel all over. Perhaps it will influence my own style in the same way it has influenced the women that I admire.

FM: How does your own rich cultural background inspire you?
SM: It inspires me to be aware of two really important ideas when it comes to fashion and people in general: diversity and change.

FM: According to you, which lady (past or present) has impeccable style and why?
SM: I know this is a bit trite…but Jackie O. She was the epitome of elegance, class, and style all wrapped into one.

FM: Do you think money and style go hand in hand or can style never be bought, is it something you just have?
SM: Style is something one just has…but money can make it so much more alluring. Money can bring style together in a way that has a more powerful effect. Without money, a woman is just left with style, usually in conclusion. In other words, “…but she has style”. Take the same stylish woman and upgrade the material and fabrics of her choices and it will all seem a little bit better.

FM: What key fashion pieces do you always have in your wardrobe? What items are you buying for spring '05? 
SM: I am really into these colorful silk tops lately. I love colors. I think it’s the Indian in me. What I look for in new fashions are simply new ways that designers use colors to flatter. Some look for the cut, and that’s important, but the right colors against the right skin tone can have an effect that works quite well.

FM: What is your biggest fashion vice?
SM: My old, torn jeans. I feel extremely comfortable and at-ease in them and I’m sure that must be reflected in my personality. It is really important to feel comfortable in clothes, emotionally speaking. There is nothing worse than putting on something that you can’t afford in the first place and, on top of it, feeling like they really belong on someone else.

FM: What’s a fashion no-no when attending special events, galas and more?
SM: There is no fashion no-no. I could probably show up somewhere in the torn jeans that I just spoke of, and everyone at the event would wonder in the back of their minds if there was some new fashion trend they were missing.

FM:   Any tips for getting ready for an event?
SM: Don’t wear too much makeup or perfume. Both are meant to subtly enhance…not to overtake. The scent of a woman can be powerful. A woman’s scent can differentiate her from the others. The magic of perfume is the ability to mix with one’s own skin to produce a truly unique scent. If a woman puts on too much, she will instead be left smelling just like a bottle of perfume.

FM: What would people be most surprised to know about you?
SM: That I just spoke at The World Economic Forum.

FM: Since you were featured on the cover of Newsweek as the new global standard of beauty, what does that mean to you?
SM: It’s a great thing that the world is finally accepting multi-cultural woman as being beautiful. It was the perfect cover in the era of globalization. However, there isn’t really a “new” global standard of beauty. What people find beautiful — symmetry and harmony — has been pretty standard for the past 5 million years.

FM: What are your own personal standards of beauty?
SM: Hygiene. This is the very first element to true beauty.

FM: As a model, we'd like to know your favorite job and why? As an "individual" with passions such as art, writing and motherhood, what tips would you give women to be well rounded, balancing out life and work?
SM: Well, the balance between life and work is everything. The first tip is to simply be aware of how critically important it really is. The little things I go though during the day to maintain my sanity work for me…but it might not work for someone else. This is why awareness is so key — so that women can begin to think for themselves about how to achieve their own goals. …and you had asked about my favorite job: I would say that my favorite jobs are the one’s that travel to exotic locations. Everyone on such shoots are in such good moods. Everyone is feeling so lucky to be there. It’s always a very nice, relaxed, laid-back atmosphere.

FM:  Give us the info on the movie you're in Expecting Shanti and anything happening in your career right now?
SM: You know, I learned a lesson about not mentioning projects until they are finished. Expecting Shanti was a great script that will likely not be made anytime soon due to financing issues. I had mentioned it once in an interview and then I found myself being asked about it years now after-the-fact. Having said that, I am in the throws of exploring things in Los Angeles and modeling. I just finished writing my website, which took a long time. That was my biggest, most personal project to date.

To find out more about Saira Mohan, please visit her website at http://www.saira.com/