Duckie Thot Is The New Face Of L’Oréal Paris

L’Oréal Paris just signed Duckie Thot, a model and Fenty Beauty muse, on as a global ambassador. This marks a major step forward for more diverse representation in the mainstream beauty industry.

Despite it being 2018, inclusivity and diversity are strongly needed in beauty; there is a reason why Fenty Beauty, with its 40-shade foundation range, was named one of Time's “Invention of the Year.” Still, there are steps that need to be taken. Thot—who, despite being in campaigns for major fashion brands such as Oscar de la Renta and Moschino, continues to have to bring her own foundation shade to modeling gigs because makeup artists usually don’t have one for her, and sometimes has to style her own hair because hair stylists don’t know how—unfortunately, knows this all too well.

This lack of diversity is something that Thot hopes to address with her new partnership with L’Oréal. In a statement on the partnership, she says, "I’m looking forward to helping more girls love the beauty of their dark skin.” Her own past insecurities also factored into her goals for the partnership: ”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!’”

The fact that Thot speaks out about inclusivity in her industry is a major reason why L’Oréal chose to sign her. In the press release on the partnership, the brand’s global president, Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou, said, “Her energy and message of inclusivity makes her a perfect recruit for the L’Oréal Paris family: original and confident in her self-worth.”