Duckie Thot has been making some serious waves in the industry as of lately — booking the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show after years of auditioning, walking in fashion shows for Fenty and Yeezy and now she’s officially the new face of L'Oréal Paris.
The 22-year-old model and advocate of inclusivity and diversity recently signed an enormous deal with L’Oréal Paris to be their global brand ambassador. When Duckie revealed the news, she shared it with Instagram, captioning the photo from her first campaign:
"Beyond blessed to be the new global spokeswoman for @lorealmakeup,"
Duckie is appreciative of her latest role, according to a statement she shared with WWD:
"I’m honored to represent L’Oréal Paris, a brand that celebrates infinite ways to be beautiful and makes products for all women. 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 number one beauty brand.'"
Duckie, born Nyadak Thot, was born in Melbourne, Australia to to parents who had escaped Sudan during their civil war. She began her modeling career at the age of 15 and appeared on Australia’s Next Top Model in 2013, finishing in third, and then made her decision to move to Brooklyn, NY.
She continued to work hard and made her first runway appearance at Yeezy SS/17 whilst appearing on campaigns and calendars for some big names like Moschino, Pirelli and Oscar de la Renta.
Duckie has remained real and has spoken up about the hardships of being a dark-skinned model in the industry, which resulted in her having to bring her own foundation on set. She’s also shared an intimate Instagram post on learning to embrace her natural hair, and how hard it can be to find a stylist to work with her natural hair texture.
Her dedication to speaking up is one of the many reasons L’Oréal Paris wanted Duckie as their global brand ambassador:
"While emerging in a new generation of models, Duckie Thot knows how to use her voice to match the strength of her images. Her energy and message of inclusivity make her a perfect recruit for the L’Oréal Paris family: original and confident in her self-worth. We’re delighted to welcome Duckie and for her to continue motivating women to believe in their own beauty around the globe," stated L’Oréal Paris global president Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou.
It’s definitely a breath of fresh air to see a dark-skinned woman be the face of a brand as large as L’Oréal. Brands such as Estee Lauder and Annabelle Cosmetics have gotten models like Anok Yai and Nyakim Gatwech to be the face of their brand as well — and we hope other brands continue to follow suit.
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