Retired models find jobs to fall back on

JAKARTA (JP): Fashion models do not shine forever.

Top model Cindy Crawford, 32, for example, had to return from Paris to the U.S. and become a film actress, playing opposite Billy Baldwin in Fair Game.

Naomi Campbell, 27, is trying her luck at becoming a singer and novelist. Two years ago she wrote Swan and has recently finished her second book.

Jakarta models, too, certainly cannot hope for the miracle which would allow them to perform on the catwalk in five-star hotels for the rest of their lives.

Certainly there are some fashion designers who present models that advertised their designs many years ago as nostalgia.

Ramli, for instance, presented the models he introduced 23 years ago in a recent fashion show of his latest creations on Oct. 24, 1998. They were Chrisye Subono, Nani Sakri, Dewi Motik Pramono, all in their forties.

"Our part is to show dresses for adult women like kebaya,a national dress," said Nani.

These senior models said that the fee was no problem. Meeting old friends was far more important to them.

It is generally agreed that modeling does not go beyond the age of 30.

"I am quite aware of it," said Soraya Yasmine Haque, 33, when speaking about the birth of her modeling school, the Soraya Haque Modeling School.

Soraya, who started modeling in her teens, saved her paychecks so when she was 25 she could afford to rent a large space in the Wijaya Grand Center, South Jakarta for her modeling school.

After the birth of her first child, Soraya linked up with Martha Tilaar's Sari Ayu group, which apart from manufacturing cosmetics, also owned various educational institutions for women, including modeling schools.

When private TV stations sprang up, Soraya was the first to present a fashion program on TV. In cooperation with her husband, Ekki Soekarno, owner of the Endrass Perdana production house, Soraya presented a program called Universal Fashion Show.

From then on, Soraya's involvement in TV programs developed. She played in the serial Tetanggaku Idolaku (My neighbor My Idol) aired by the TPI station. For the past three years she has been presenter of an education program called Ibu Bayi dan Balita.

Okky Asokawati, 36, has had a similar modeling career.

One of the women longest in the profession, Okky with her typically Indonesian face and slender figure is a favorite with prominent designers like Iwan Tirta.

Long before she retired, Okky had made plans to survive when she had to step down off the catwalk for good. She set up OQ Modeling School, which still exists.

A graduate of the School of Psychology of the University of Indonesia, Okky became a journalist with Matra magazine and acting chief editor for the now defunct family magazine Gaya.

More recently Okky has often been seen addressing seminars. She has also joined television. Formerly, she only made brief psychological analyses of a given case. Last year she played the principal role in a soap opera aired by TV stations in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bali and abroad.

"This was new to me, there is a challenge in it," said Okky about her role as a Yogyakarta businesswoman who joined the jet set.

She seems to like the glare of television cameras. ANteve has just extended the contract for the "Okky" talk show aired on Saturdays.

However, Ratih Sanggarwati, 35, who has also established a modeling school and agency, said she was not only preparing her retirement through her Expose Modeling Agency.

"My motivation is to implement a professional work system in modeling," she said.

Ratih gave a simple example: models of her agency must know professional ethics. They should not, for example, appear on the catwalk without stockings on even if they had extraordinarily smooth legs.

"Things like this will make Indonesian models more professional so that in the free trade era in 2003 when models from everywhere will be allowed to work in Indonesia we will be ready to compete with them quality-wise."

Ratih has not only established a modeling agency. She has also made a fashion coverage package called Kaya Gaya for a TV station. She has also opened Expose Cafe, which often presents poets, writers, musicians and painters.

Being celebrities, these former models cannot leave the world of glamour and they remain in the spotlight.

Most of them have entered show business. That is what has been done by former models like Licu, Ratna Dumilah and Kristina Nataningdita, who was well-known by her stage name of Nana Krit.

"I used to make some 20 appearances per month," said Nana, who now still appears with her main characteristics: shoulder-length curly hair which earned her the nickname Krit.

Nana, 36, started her career as a model after winning the 1978 Putri Remaja Indonesia contest. While modeling Nana, an accountant by training, said, "At 30 a model must have retired."

She learned the modeling business in 1987 when she helped a friend in organizing a fashion show. "It was fairly successful," she said.

She has been a show coordinator since then. Married to a modeling colleague, she and her husband now run a show business called NK Nekacipta.

Many former models say they like to follow the developments of the modeling world in Indonesia.

"Nowadays the girls are more beautiful," said Nana. "However, compared to those of my time, I feel we had more character," said Nana.

Observers say that Indonesian models now resemble photocopies. They are not distinguishable from each other. In the past, people could clearly see the particular characteristics of the models on the catwalk.

There were Enny Soekamto and Okky Asokawati who were famous for their elegance; Soraya Haque would appear with her typical stern look; Ria Juwita and Nana Krit appeared cheerful.

"I was a dancer and knew the tricks to express myself on the catwalk," said Nana who was accomplished in ballet and Balinese dancing.

-- Agni Amorita