IT’S been decades since Marla Singh Walton visited Suva, her old haunt while growing up in early 80s. Not to mention Flagstaff, where her family lived.
“I haven’t been back to Suva since I was a teenager. What is Flagstaff like nowadays?” she asked.
When told of the little changes to some of Suva’s iconic sites, the former international model nodded nonchalantly.
“It’s nice feeling to be back. I had great memories here. The people are friendly and so warm-hearted. But I guess it’s not the same when your loved ones are no longer here,” she said quietly.
“One of my memories was seeing my parents and grandparents when I used to visit and it’s sort of sad that they’ve passed on.”
As Marla talked about her early childhood days her face slowly lights up. The former top international model who once graced international catwalks and modelled alongside Naomi Campbell, Tyra Banks, Charliez Theron, and Elle Macpherson, seemed more relaxed and comfortable in her own skin. Age seemed to have agreed with her.
“When I was six years old, I remembered passing the Government House one day and I was so fascinated by the architecture of the building.
“I said to my sister this reminds me of England, and she said ‘you have never been to England and I said ‘well I’m going to someday’ so I sort of had it in the back of my mind to travel the world but not necessarily modelling.
“I guess fate brought me modelling which was sort of like a stepping stone towards travelling around the world.
“It sort of paid my lifestyle to get around and I made a career out of it for 16 years,” she said after a short pause, as if all the early memories of modelling rushed back to her.
“I never dreamt my modelling career would happen, it was just fluke like here I am let’s see what happens. I had no expectations and it turned out a lot great than I had expected.
“When agencies asked me where I was from and when I say Fiji, they would say, ‘what are you doing here? It’s so cold!’
“There was also the period where Indian girls were very much in vogue as well.”
Some of Marla’s most memorable experiences in the fashion industry include meeting Giorgio Armani an Italian fashion designer, particularly noted for his menswear.
She was also featured as the face of Revlon’s Sandstorm, which she described as “ecstatic yet humbling” and also the fact that she was the first Indian Fijian to have come so far in the fashion industry.
“The fashion industry is a tough industry but you have to get going … just jump into it if you want to do it. I guess it was because of my personality that made it easier for me to adapt.
“I’m very easygoing, so I go with the flow, I don’t really rock the boat. I was very quiet, I didn’t find any bitchiness or nastiness among the models, they were all very helpful and nice to each other.
” I remember arriving in Italy for a shoot and the next day I was literally doing Italy Vogue!”
Sitting at the patio of the Grand Pacific Hotel with her husband Richard Walton, Marla says she has moved on from those days.
Since leaving the industry, she has embarked upon her retail handbag brand — Marlafiji.
The collection of couture handbags is named after close friends and families.
Using her contacts and experience learning from some of the industry’s top icons, Marla has incorporated her own style and taste to the brand-keeping up with the ever-changing and evolving trends.
The bags are made in Italy and can be found on website www.marlafiji.com.
As timeless and hip as it comes today, Marla hopes her couture bags will get more recognition.
“We’re expanding our accessory brand to other source of accessories, we’re working on it at the moment, so can’t disclose it right now,” she said with a smile.
“I hope other Fijians like me are able to make their mark on a global scale.
“Don’t give up your dreams, just keep going, have your head screwed on and be very focused and have determination.
“Don’t listen to anybody because I had some setbacks when I was starting out … people said it was too hard, you’re not going to make it.
“Don’t make any time for such negative criticism,” added the succesful entreprenuer with finality.
