Aussie model Duckie Thot popularly known as the Black Barbie is the latest cover star for Paper magazine’s Beautiful people September series. The 21-year-old dark skinned beauty who since walking for the Yeezy show and meeting Pat McGrath, shot straight to the top of the international model scene. In an interview with the magazine, the model who is of South Sudanese heritage opened up about her background, growing up in an Australia and trying to get ahead in a country with an industry that wasn’t black model friendly.
She made a powerful point about the lack of diversity in Australia, saying that she literally had to move to New York City to find work. “I stuck with it for two years but I literally got nothing,” she says, of modelling in Australia after ANTM. “I didn’t understand why, but I wasn’t getting any work.”
“I think it was a very confusing part of my life for me. I was just this little [black] girl in Australia just being like, ‘Oh yeah, I want to do modelling,’ but [while also] being in a country that doesn’t promote black models. It was kind of like a mindfuck all in itself anyways, so I didn’t really get how far I was going to go with it.
“I remember running on the treadmill in Australia and thinking, ‘You should be running on the treadmill in New York’. That’s literally what I was thinking! I just thought — why am I here? So I was just like, ‘Let me make the executive decision to move to New York. I’m not getting my coins in Australia!’”
Photo Credit: Paper Magazine
