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If you haven't watched the documentary Dark Girls, check out the trailer from the documentary below.
It's important to create some kind of context around why it's a triumph that Duckie Thot is the new face of L'Oreal Paris.
Just the other day, we wrote about the world's first digital supermodel, Shudu, who has a dark complexion. It is significant. For too long, women around the world have been excluded from the fashion and beauty industry because of the colour of their skin. And even shunned by their own families.
With comments like, “You used to be so beautiful and now you are just dark” that need to be challenged, like this writer did here "Dear Indian people, we need to talk about your unhealthy obsession with fair skin". Celebrities like actress Gabrielle Union are also teaching their children about colourism.
At 22 years old Duckie has already used her voice on social media to share "her journey as a black model who challenges the industry norms: when she called out having to bring her own makeup onto set or to style her own hair when shoot stylists lacked the knowledge."
READ MORE: "They never knew what to do with my hair"
"By speaking out, she has contributed to the redefinition of what [being] a model is."
She says, "I'm looking forward to helping more girls love the beauty of their dark skin. In my mind, I'm going back in time and telling the young girl I was: 'Dream big, work hard and trust in yourself girl because one day you're going to say 'yes' to the No1 beauty brand!".
Duckie's real name is Nyadak and she was "born in Melbourne to Sudanese parents, who had escaped the country's civil war", and she has already been the face of Fenty Beauty, has been on the cover of Paper magazine, walked for designers like Jeremy Scott and featured in Pirelli's 2018 calendar.
Hopefully one day soon, we won't have to have this discussion around Duckie Thot's complexion and just celebrate her for the supermodel she's becoming.
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