Vanizha Vasanthanathan

Vanizha Vasanthanathan

Women everywhere in the world are put on a pedestal are made to feel like someone they should emulate. Fashion and beauty industry often prizes conformity over uniqueness. There’s a certain image it upholds, a checklist in which marginalized people are judged by their proximity to eurocentric beauty standards. . Introducing you to Vanizha, whose individuality has set her apart, fueling her barrier-breaking rise to fashion’s upper echelon and shattering outdated beauty standards along the way

Vanizha Vasanthanathan hails from Malaysia, she embraced her height and dark features .In Malaysia, the burgeoning #UnfairIsLovely movement has also taken root, pushing for Malaysian women to embrace their natural darker tones. Models such as Vanizha are questioning what has traditionally been considered attractive by embracing dark skin and more Asian-seeming features over Eurocentric beauty standards and paler skin

“When I was a kid, I used to feel down when people talk about my height and my dark skin. At school, I got unnecessary attention because I was way too tall compared to other girls. I felt like a fish out of water. Embracingh my dark skin" is my superpower ! People has seen me as contiguous " don't touch her you will become black " I mean how does that happen? I have heard people call me " 黑人牙膏 " which means DARLIE TOOTHPASTE (literally translates to Black People Toothapaste) . If you say the same thing now to me I would just smile and walk off or tell you how I'm proud of my skin color and I'm comfortable with it. . Aside from the personal achievement, the bigger picture is it’s “social importance” and this an example of a purpose that commercial platforms potentially can serve. It’s about time we take advantage of this platform to share our triumphs that changes another person’s life

By boldly and unapologetically serving as representation in fashion, media, TV, and film, while breaking records and opening doors, Vanizha is creating a culture of uplifted and powerful people. I’m the representation that I needed when I was growing up.

Vanizha in Gulestan.