NICOLE: DEFYING THE STEREOTYPICAL BEAUTY...

Colourless beauty is the term albino models have coined. The likes of first male albino professional model Shaun Ross and Diandra Forrest, as well as South Africa’s Thando Hopa have made sure to put albino’s in the forefront, claiming their beauty in the fashion and beauty industry that once upon a time lacked diversity where the face that represented what was considered beautiful is concerned.

Swaziland has its very own cover girl for beauties with albinism. Nicole Dludlu is a 21-year-old woman who has recently had her modelling debut.
Last Saturday GCWALA spotted the young woman among other models who were showcasing at the pre-SADC Fashion Show held at Emfuleni Lifestyle in Ezulwini.

Strut

She drew our attention particularly for her confident strut down the runway and of course being the first model with albinism that we have seen strut the ramp in the country.
We are familiar with the international models who are the beautiful faces of skin conditions such as Vitiligo, who have changed the conversation of what the face of a beautiful person should look like.
Among many other issues that had been limiting who can be dubbed attractive, colourism was top on the lists of debates. That conversation seems to be over now that there is more variety in as far as skin tone and complexion is concerned.

Nicole is new to the modelling industry and this is due to encouragement from friends who saw her potential as a prospective model, given that she has a body many would envy and her skin, despite the reality that albinos suffer from skin sensitivity due to their lack of melanin, is flawless.
How does she keep her skin looking good? Well from a young age as she reveals to GCWALA her mother made sure she never left the house without a hat on and sunscreen.

Developing

This is something even in her young adulthood she says she maintains to keep her from developing brown spots from sun damage.
The model who is from Nkwalini says she has recently been signed with an agency called Fierce Fantasies, which is based in Manzini. 
Although the recent fashion show was her second one since she decided to venture into modelling she sees a bright future in the industry.

“Growing up I drew inspiration from Tyra Banks. I was obsessed with her. The dream to become a model was inspired by her and when I later saw her on America’s Next Top Model show which at an advanced stage started to embrace different looks from your typical model type, it motivated me to pursue my own dream,” she said.
Locally people she looks up to are Sabelo Ndlela and Nomfundo Sibandze who are from Top Models.

Pursuit

Her next bid gig is the SADC Fashion Show which is scheduled for September 2. The beautiful model wants to take this opportunity to inspire the different type of model to hit the ground running in pursuit of their dreams.
 “I regard myself to be that person who should change the face of the typical beauty or model and I am currently familiarising myself with the fashion industry so that I am well equipped, professional and have the knowhow about its ins and outs.”
Speaking about other albino models internationally, particularly Thando Hopa from South Africa, she tells GCWALA that when she saw the model on the cover of JET Magazine, she thought to herself if Thando could do it, what was actually stopping her from achieving the same goals in her country of birth.

Motivation

This is the motivation she had to take the plunge and grab the opportunity with her hands wide open.
Despite her daily skin regime and the pressures of the industry to redefine beauty, Nicole insists on not altering her appearance with makeup or other fancy skin cosmetics.

“The only thing I put on is lipstick but in as far as foundation and skin powders and other beauty enhancers are concerned, I do not apply them because I personally feel that they would damage my skin and make me look older.”
She insists that she has never even tried to put on makeup for this reason.
Nicole believes that she has the potential to make it internationally as the first steps she has taken to become a model have materialised and shown her great potential.

Priority

And while the model is passionate about her craft she asserts that education is a priority because the fashion and beauty industry can be fixated with the fountain of youth and fresh beauty that is age defying yet education is a gem one takes to the grave.
“I am currently doing my final year at SCOT, pursuing a Diploma in Computer Science. There is no doubt that I will proceed to do my degree because I believe that education is the key to success, something which was instilled in me at high school level at KaBoyce High School.”

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