For Best Model of the World 2011

Piumi takes her charm to Bulgaria

by Omar Rajarathnam

She is not new to the ramp, nor is she a fresher to stealing hearts with her charm. Piumi Perera, the girl who hails from Ja-ela is envious hot property of the country’s modelling industry nowadays and her success graph is only on the rise as she has been selected to represent Sri Lanka at the Best Model of the World 2011 contest which is slated to be held in Bulgaria by the end of this month.

Busy as a bee preparing for the grand show and shuttling between Colombo and her home, Piumi sat with us to share her responsibility. “This is a huge event and I am being groomed by top professionals in the field, to give it my all. I want to be selected at least to the top five. There will be participants from 68 countries and the biggest advantage a Sri Lankan girl has is a curvaceous figure, but again I need to make sure I conform to international standards of the pageant”, she said.

Piumi says that a good model is someone who can pose in any type of attire. “It doesn’t matter where we come from and what we are comfortable wearing, in this industry we need to adapt to anything thrown at us.

I am a professional model so I couldn’t be happier at the opportunity to represent my country at such a high profile pageant”, said Piumi.

A determined Piumi says that as much as she is happy with her accomplishment, she was certain that she will make it big one day. “I started when I was 18 and for three long years I have done nothing but work hard. I am extremely blessed to have a family that keeps a watch over me. My parents are my strength and had they had opposed my career even for a fraction of a second, I would have not been able to progress. I thank Vasana Danthanarayana, Rasika Melroy and Brian Kerkoven; they have always believed in me.

V Academy has been trying for the past 10 years to secure the franchise for the pageant and it is overwhelming to see their aspirations come true. I have been taken care of really well by them. I am also very grateful to Michael Wijesuriya who is putting some stunning outfits together for the pageant”, she said.

Piumi is training rigorously to take Sri Lankan glory to the international platform and is certainly confident that she will do us all proud.