Ketholeno elated after winning ‘Vogue Young Achiever of the year Award’

Ketholeno Kense Vihienuo, also known as Leno Kense, from Kohima was recently awarded with ‘Vogue and Colors Infinity Young Achievers Award’ at the Vogue Women of the Year 2017, held at the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai, hosted by Emmy-award winning actor, Archie Panjabi.

She was part of a group of renowned women, bollywood stars, style icons and philanthropists in India who were awarded with during the celebration of the 10th anniversary of Vogue India.

In a chat with Nagaland Post, Leno said she felt amazing and overwhelmed by the recognition.

Shifting bases between Kohima and Delhi to keep up with her professional life, Leno said working in mainland had always been interesting for her

She said, “It has its ups and downs like in every field”.

Adding that she sometimes felt discriminated living and trying to survive in the city but feeling of biasness was never felt in the fashion industry.

Setting aside the usual believe of mainlanders ridiculing people from the North East, Leno said her acquaintances and the people she comes across always gets excited about the region and would talk about beauty, food, people and also had great expectations about the region.

She said modelling is an amazing career if a people know what they were getting into and although the profession is very short term in nature a person can visit places, earn and also get noticed both nationally and internationally.

She was of the view that more Nagas should venture into the profession since there were many young talents who can change the face of the industry.

Adding that although there were certain criteria for the profession where the primary focus is to sell a product, the survivability rate for a person depends on one’s personality, attitude and passion for the work.

Answering to a query on the state of fashion industry in Nagaland, Leno said, over the years the scene had improved conspicuously for the designers but that there was not much development for the models and model aspirants.

Leno can be found on instagram at leno_kense.