Lisa Siva: A Model’s Revenge

Originally awed by the glossy pages of Nylon, Seventeen, and Vogue (especially Vogue Paris and Italia), Siva had always perceived fashion as superficial. However, she said, “It’s not, especially if you see some of the things that the really creative minds do, like Nicola Formichetti or Alexander McQueen. They take fashion as an art...It’s not just something to put on your body...It is art, but it’s art that you can wear everyday.”
 
A distinct, charming spread in a 2005 issue of Vogue called “Daytime Drama” was the catalyst for Siva’s fashion flip. The spread was graced with doll-faced women suited up in stunning ball gowns—in the middle of a laundromat. As Siva delighted over the models flinging soap suds around and draping themselves over dirty laundry in their haute couture, she couldn’t help but think, “the juxtaposition of everyday life and fashion is so meaningful, because that is the way fashion works. It’s an art that transcends this sort of lofty realm of art and into everyday life.”
 
It’s this very idea that Siva said Spark tried to convey to the campus community: that instead of the typical inundation of Nike shorts and baggy t-shirts, college-aged women have options. It’s all about achieving a clean-cut silhouette rather than high-end labels or prices.
 
“What we want to do is open up a new world of fashion to people and let them know that, yes, this is accessible,” Siva said. “You don’t have to dress in an Alexander McQueen gown, but there is this whole world of fashion waiting for you.”
 
After spontaneously and successfully modeling for a UT student fashion show in 2009, Siva’s classmate sent a photo of her from the runway to her agent, who was instantly interested. After an uncomfortable meeting in which an insecure Siva was made to change into a bikini for an on-the-spot shoot with this man she had never met before (“I think it was my first indication that the fashion industry was radically different than anything else”), she had earned her foot in the door to opportunity.
 
However, over time Siva became dissatisfied with this agent, who she chose to not name. Later, Siva discovered her classmate had broken off her contract with him after he requested her to pose nude in a public park in Austin without a location license or any kind of permission. Several months later after no communication, the agent called Siva crying and told her he had moved to Montesino, Cali., after his wife had divorced him.
 
“You can meet a lot of really unprofessional and unsavory characters in the fashion industry,” Siva said about that experience. Although she began to distance herself from the agent, she remains grateful to him for the connections she made.