Fighting colourism world over, black models have emerged victorious a bit like this Brazilian beauty Marcella Jackie, a first timer at LMIFW19
By Asmita Aggarwal
Even till today on the runways they exist in single digits and beauty companies only now have woken up and looked at launching products that work for their skin tones and kinky hair.
Marcella Jackie is black, beautiful and articulate, despite English not being her first language, she expresses herself with candour. It was a brave move to come to a country where half the population still longs for fairness and dark-skin is considered a taboo. My parents were a little worried, but I took a risk. I am the only child so it took a lot of convincing and they are really supportive. They knew it was my dream to model internationally. To make sure they know I am safe, I speak to them everyday, this summer I am headed home, she confesses.
From the picturesque Fortaleza, Brazil, Marcella began modelling with friends at the age of 18, and just last year signed on with an agency. I am a vegetarian, so unlike Brazil, India is heaven for me. There are so many choices for non-meat eaters here, she smiles.
There are two things that motivated the young model to step into unknown territory—- yoga, which she is a devotee of, and spirituality which she believes is the only way to approach life and what curveballs it throws in your direction. My moms wish was that I hone my yoga skills and maybe go back and teach her too. But there is much more than that I discovered in India. Almost 20 different languages people speak here, which are region-specific and it is the second biggest country that speaks English, she laughs.
Marcella, 21, was studying journalism in Brazil and worked for a fashion magazine before she came here last year in September. Covering fashion shows, she discovered what makes Brazil unique is there are all kinds of girls who walk—red heads, blondes, brunettes and even black, making it multi-racial. My father is black and my mom is Brazilian and I never thought I will get any work here, but I was in for a surprise, she says.
Travelling has been a passion and being a journalist reading and writing have remained her soulmates which she hopes to pursue once she gives up the spotlight. Maybe one day I can start my own brand, cosmetics is my interest area as there arent enough for black girls as our skin and hair is different from white girls. I want to create a specific line so that backstage girls like me dont have to struggle to get the right foundation. Jewellery designing using alternative materials is another area I would like to explore, she admits.
The Indian runways have recently seen an influx of Brazilian models, a far shot from Eastern European women who were the flavour of the season a few years ago. It is not easy being a black model, some of the girls who had earlier worked in India had warned me about prejudices, though I havent faced anything as yet. If you look at history, black girls have faced discrimination not just in modelling, but every profession, but they fought back. I admire Victorias Secret model Jasmine Tookes, though whether it was Naomi Campbell or Jourdan Dunn (the first black model to walk for Prada) they both made a place in fashion, she adds, adding, Dunn was a young mother and everyone told her she wont make it as there is no place for moms on the catwalk. She proved them wrong.