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Local model, Gert-Johan Coetzee muse and lawyer Thando Hopa has made groundbreaking news once again. She was the first local ambassador of skincare brand Vichy Capital Soleil in 2014 and earlier this year she fronted the Audi Q2 #Untaggable campaign.
Read more: Thando Hopa smashes conventional beauty norms
And has now been featured as the first-ever black South African model in the 45th edition of the Pirelli calendar.
The 2018 theme is Alice in Wonderland with an all-black cast and it is the creative masterpiece of British photographer Tim Walker.
It is beyond glorious!
Here, Thando Hopa plays the Princess of Hearts and is also shot alongside Whoopi Goldberg, who plays The Royal Duchess.
The Princess of Hearts wore a Gert-Johan Coetzee gown (of course) to the unveiling of the calendar in New York last Friday night.
But more importantly, she made the following powerful statement about what having an all-black cast for Alice in Wonderland means today:
“Alice in Wonderland speaks of possibilities, and this interpretation said that Alice could be anybody, and for underrepresented people possibilities and dreams are important because when you are underrepresented you face the danger of conforming to stereotypes because that is all you see.
This calendar says, No, it doesn’t have to be that way.”
Our local girl's co-stars include other iconic and much-celebrated international faces such as Naomi Campbell, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Diddy Combs, Rupaul, and Lupita Nyong'o.
Read more: Lupita Nyong’o's not impressed with how this mag altered her appearance on its latest cover
Add to that list the likes of 2017's 'It' Girls Duckie Thot (who plays Alice), Adut Akech, Adwoa Aboah, and Slick Woods.
See behind the scenes footage of the shoot here:
Images: Supplied
