00:00I'm Aisha Hodges, and this is my fashion story.
00:04Growing up, I was a tomboy.
00:06I was all about sneakers, sweatpants, basketball.
00:10So if you would have asked me seven years ago if I wanted to be a model, I probably would have said no.
00:14Just growing up in Brooklyn, I was just always so tall, and everyone just kept stopping me like,
00:19Oh my God, are you a model? You should try it.
00:21I'm being scouted by agents, and I'm just like, why are all these people bothering me?
00:25But something just clicked, and I just decided to try it out.
00:30So eventually something spoke to me, and I entered the modeling contest my first year of college,
00:35and I won, and it just took off from there.
00:37Definitely as a black creative, as a black fashion model, it's harder in general.
00:43I was always told you got to work twice as hard.
00:45You have to be on point at all times no matter what.
00:49I think for me, modeling overseas, I had a lot of obstacles that I faced.
00:54Being a black fashion model, going to castings and being told no,
00:57you can't be casted in the show because you're a black model.
01:01So just already walking through the door, feeling inadequate that I don't have an equal opportunity
01:06as much as the other models in that room, simply because of something I don't even have control over.
01:11So that's a big disadvantage that I face, is just being a black woman and not even being selected for a job
01:18just because of, you know, the color of my skin.
01:21Also, another disadvantage is, like, for certain jobs backstage,
01:25not having the proper foundation color to match my skin, not having the right coverage.
01:30You know, I come from having acne-prone skin, and I feel like every model has different undertones,
01:35need different coverage.
01:37Some models probably don't need any makeup at all, but for the models that do,
01:40you know, makeup artists should be able to specialize in all skin types.
01:43I have seen a lot of change, a lot of, like, amazing black makeup artists,
01:48a lot of amazing black stylists that are coming up and creating waves as well.
01:52So many models have experienced the same thing, but if you don't speak up about it,
01:56if you don't use your platform, if you don't voice your opinion,
01:58then the problem will continue to, you know, move on.
02:02I think right now, just being myself is more than enough,
02:06and just being who I am has gotten me, you know, this far by the grace of God.
02:10So I just will hope to inspire young women just to be themselves.
02:14You know, we're living in a world of social media,
02:17and, you know, many girls, they want to play in the makeup.
02:19They want the long hair, they want the extensions,
02:20but I'm representing a different kind of beauty where it's like,
02:23you can have shaved hair and still be booked for one of the biggest shows in the world.
02:27You can just be yourself, and that's more than enough.
02:30I think what's next for me is just more so motivational speaking, speaking to young women.
02:35I'm excited to see what's to come next.
02:37I don't want to, like, put anything out into the universe,
02:39but, you know, just continuing to be that inspiration,
02:42continuing to use my platform, you know, in a positive way,
02:45and just spreading, like, good vibes and good energy and good, you know, positivity.
02:50So that's what's next for me, honestly.
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