Model behavior

First, the gigs dried up. Then the visa requirements got tighter. Gennady Oreshkin finds out how the diehard sorts among Hong Kong's foreign fashion models are surviving.

Ukrainian native Nikita Todorova is a fashion model, working in Hong Kong since 2016. Things changed drastically when the pandemic hit. "All the jobs suddenly got canceled because everyone was scared," she remembers.

During the first wave of COVID-19, Todorova says, she was in pure survival mode.

Since then, she's broken her savings in order to remain in the city. In normal times, Todorova could look forward to shoots that would cover her expenses. But during the pandemic, "Suddenly you need to slow down and go, 'I'll just wear an old dress,' or 'I won't buy any new shoes.'"

However, in retrospect, the first wave was also a grounding experience that taught her the skills of frugal living, making it easier to get through subsequent viral waves - all four of them.

Work has been more stable over the past few months, yet anxieties remain about the effects of a potential sixth wave.

"The fear of it happening again doesn't leave me," Todorova confesses. "If I survived the last time, this time I'm not so sure if I'll live in a box under a bridge or on The Peak," she laughs. "Some fancy people can adopt me."

Pre-pandemic, Todorova's life was a tad more glamorous, and the challenges involved were simpler. She would treat herself to a shopping spree once a week, and remembers short hops to Macao as being the most aggravating aspect of extending her visa. Such minor inconveniences pale into insignificance compared with the hurdles now faced by foreign models in Hong Kong.