As a child, I was bullied for my dark skin -Senegalese model Khoudia Diop

As a child, I was bullied for my dark skin - Senegalese model Khoudia Diop

As a child, Senegalese model Khoudia Diop was bullied for her dark skin.

Now, she’s a hugely successful model, using her internet fame to inspire other women to love the things that make them different. ‘I was teased a lot growing up, because of my skin tone,’ Khoudia, who’s now 19, told Mail Online.

‘By other kids, and now even online sometimes, people will make comments.

‘Growing up, I faced it by confronting the bullies. As I grew, I learned to love myself more every day, and not pay attention to the negative people, which helped a lot.’

At age 15 she moved from Senegal to France. Two years later, at 17 years old, Khoudia started working as a model.

This week her photos started being shared all over Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, with people calling her skin ‘melanin goals.’

She quickly racked up 280,000 followers, and is now using her fame to inspire others to love their skin, and to work towards increasing diversity in the beauty industry.

‘We need more women of color in fashion, period,’ said Khoudia. ‘I want to inspire other young women of color and empower them.

‘I want them to know that they can do and be anything they dream of.’

She’s not just talking about changing the industry, mind you. She’s taking action to make it happen.

Khoudia is now working as a model in New York and Paris, and her agency, The Colored Girl Inc will be making sure we start seeing Khoudia’s face in major campaigns.

Which is a big deal, considering how rare it is to see anyone with dark skin on the runways or in the pages of magazines.

‘She’s a rare beauty that we had to have in our campaign,’ said the agency on Instagram. Agreed. We can’t wait to see more of her face.