At Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2027 show in Paris on October 5, the Indian presence was on the runway itself. Bhavitha Mandava and Lakshmi Menon were in Matthieu Blazy’s cast, alongside Bengaluru-born and raised Mona Bhujel. Together, they offered a more interesting picture than the familiar search for a single breakout face: established experience, a rapidly rising career and another model securing a place in a major house’s show.
It was one part of a wider season. In New York, Avanti Nagrath closed Sabyasachi’s September 15 presentation. Bhoomi Yadav’s bookings included KNWLS in London and Moschino in Milan. These were Spring/Summer 2027 collections presented during September and October 2026, not shows still to come next year.
The useful question is not whether Indian models have suddenly “arrived”. It is where they are working, what roles they are being given and whether that visibility extends beyond one much-shared appearance. This season supplies several names worth following.
Chanel’s Cast Was More Than One Breakout Story
Mandava’s route into fashion has already attracted attention. Her professional biography records a move from India to New York to study assistive technology at NYU, followed by a modelling debut with Bottega Veneta’s Summer 2025 collection. Her October Chanel booking belongs to a career that now extends beyond that discovery story.
For the latest Chanel show, she wore look 10, a black dress shaped with sculptural roses. Menon appeared in look 61, combining a pale blouse, green skirt and tweed jacket. Their contrasting outfits make a useful point about casting: the same collection can accommodate different personalities rather than requiring every model to project an identical kind of glamour.
Menon also resists the tendency to tell every Indian modelling story as a discovery narrative. Models.com lists her among its Industry Icons, and her recent work includes FFORME’s September 14 show and Chanel’s October presentation. An established model continuing to book is a different kind of achievement from a newcomer’s debut, but it deserves attention too.
Bhujel, who appeared in Chanel’s look 17, adds another career to that picture. India Today’s October interview identifies her as Bengaluru-born and raised. Her appearance alongside Mandava and Menon makes this a story about several careers crossing on one runway, rather than a lone model carrying the entire narrative.
A Closing Walk in New York
Nagrath’s September booking offers another way to read the season. Her Models.com record identifies her as the closing model at Sabyasachi’s Spring/Summer 2027 New York show. Vogue’s review describes the collection’s mixture of Western clothing and Indian influences, with Christy Turlington opening the presentation.
That gives Nagrath’s appearance a specific context: she was not simply attending a designer’s international event. She was part of how the collection was presented, occupying the final position in its runway sequence. For readers following Indian fashion abroad, the model’s contribution belongs in the story alongside the designer’s.
Bhoomi Yadav’s Multi-City Season
Yadav’s recent credits are particularly useful for anyone looking beyond a single famous house. Her professional profile records a closing appearance for KNWLS on September 19, Moschino on September 25 and ICICLE on October 1. Earlier in the year, she also walked Chanel’s July couture show.
The significance is the range of assignments. A closing appearance, a Milan runway booking and another Paris show give readers several concrete points at which to follow her work. They are a stronger basis for assessing a season than an unsupported claim that a model is “taking over” fashion.
Watch the Credits, Not Just the Headlines
These careers do not follow one template. Menon brings longevity; Mandava has become a closely watched newer face; Nagrath and Yadav have distinctive recent runway credits. Bhujel’s Chanel appearance adds another India-connected career to watch.
Together, their work makes the latest season worth revisiting after the front-row photographs have moved on. The next names to learn are already in the show credits.