Mirror, mirror on the wall - who’s the fairest of them all?

Right,back to sharing my favourite black models with you!

Last time I talked about Ajuma and Alek Wek, today it’s all about.......drumroll please..........

Flaviana Matata

This 24 year old Tanzanian beauty queen and model placed 6^th in the Miss Universe 2007 competition. I love her look. For me, this is the everyday accessible beauty of Africa. Not only is she gorgeous, but she has a big heart too. She is an Angel for the Development Empowerment Fund which is a non-profit international NGO set up to raise money in African nations where diamonds are a natural resource, in order to support education initiatives that will develop and empower the economically disadvantaged.

She’s also planning the launch of her Flaviana Matata Foundation in May this year in honour of her late mother. The foundation will apparently be aimed at reducing child pregnancy rates as well as empowering women and children in Tanzania.

Oluchi

What can I say? She rocks! She’s Nigerian born and has made a huge impact in the modelling world.

She’s done runway for Christian Dior, (the now disgraced) John Galliano, Chanel and Giorgio Armani just to name a few.  She’s also a Victoria’s Secret Angel and is a four-time Sports Illustrated Swimwear model! (if you haven’t guessed it yet, in my next life I want to be a Victoria’s Secret Angel – it’s not the looks for me, it’s my theory that they get tons of free gorgeous lingerie!!)

She won the first Face of Africa competition in 1998 and while it catapulted her to stardom, I sometimes wonder if she hasn’t actually helped make the competition even more famous!

In 2008 she opened her own modelling agency in South Africa aimed at giving young African models similar exposure to what she’s enjoyed.

To top off all that, she’s married with a son!

I could go on for days about my favourite models but if you look at the few I’ve chosen you’ll see the common thread. They’re fabulous, they’re famous, but they’re also big into giving back and ultimately I think that’s what I love about them. 

They’ve moved on from their early lives but never away from their African roots. We can’t all start a foundation or something big but we can also give back in small ways. Every time you buy something from the Afrawear store, some of the proceeds to the supplier go to supporting orphanages in Africa.

So go ahead, give back a little today!