Cybil Chowdhry started off her career about 15 years back and it was just by a mere coincidence. Way back in 1999, she had her first portfolio done for Athar Shahzad as a pre-sixteen birthday present from her mother. A week later, Shahzad called her up for a photo shoot and the rest is history.
“It was more of a coincidence than anything else,” the 30 year old tells.
Today, having established herself as a supermodel and a star on the runway, she doesn’t feel there is anyone who can compete with her in the fashion indsurty. “There is no direct competition for me in this industry. I have been doing it for a long time now and established models like myself, Nadia Hussain, Iman Ali and Mehreen Syed, have no competition at all,” she says. “When we started years ago, we were just a handful of girls. Now, as time has progressed, we are all mothers and have our own businesses as well. The newcomers probably want to get somewhere, but we have already done that.”
Having reached new heights of fame and glory in Pakistan, Chowdhry doesn’t believe in a certain criterion that Pakistani models have to fit in to be counted. “Do we have a criterion for models in Pakistan?” she asks rhetorically. “I believe, here in Pakistan, a model is an all-rounder. Fame can come easily and quickly but how long does that last? To become famous and to be a celebrity are two different things.”
