‘Model Squad’: Runway star Shanina Shaik opens up about modeling, being bullied as a teen and her business aspirations
‘Model Squad’ star Shanina Shaik is both a name and face you’ll not want to forget. The 27-year-old Pakistani beauty got her start in the industry as a runner-up on the Australian reality competition series, ‘Make Me a Supermodel’, in 2008. She since has become a veteran of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, has walked the runway for designers like Tom Ford, Chanel and Stella McCartney and has graced the covers of Cosmopolitan Australia, Vogue India, Harper's Bazaar Arabia and more. Shaik’s most recent project is of course ‘Model Squad’, E!’s newest two-week docu-series event following the careers and lives of some of the industry’s top models.
While many imagine the lives of models to be glamorous and elite, ‘Model Squad’ portrays the lifestyle in a different light. The series focuses less on the glamour and more on the hard work involved in this tenuous career. This was was something important to Shaik as she wanted viewers to get a real depiction of what their lives are truly like. “After seeing the show, I would hope that the audience has an understanding of what our industry entails and for young girls to know it’s not so glamorous. Yes, we get to travel to beautiful places and wear high-end designer clothes, but it’s also a lot of hard work and dedication with a lot of risk and sacrifice as well.”