A 25-year-old South Sudanese model, Nykhor Paul, has called out for change in the fashion industry. The dark-skinned beauty wrote an open letter via Instagram regarding the unequal treatment she receives during fashion shows and shoots.
The post has over 16,000 likes and is garnering attention from around the world. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, she claimed that she encountered this issue with makeup artists since the earlier days of her modelling career some time 10 years ago.
This isn’t the first time this issue has been addressed. Back in 2011, current Victoria’s Secret model, Jourdan Dunn tweeted: “I swear some people need to learn how to do black hair and skin”.
Paul also told Cosmopolitan that she had to buy her own makeup to look right and feel more comfortable getting photographed. Sometimes, she would even redo her makeup in the washroom on her own. Paul mentioned that once, at an event in Paris, five black models had to make their way into the washroom just to fix their makeup.
She had had enough and took to Instagram after she was asked whether she brought her own powder and foundation at a recent show. The makeup artists then told her that they “don’t work with a lot of people like you. Most black girls we work with bring their own makeup”.
It’s very surprising that in the 21st century, we still face and hear about racial inequality in not only the fashion industry, but everywhere around the world.
