Sanele Junior Xaba has already modelled for Adidas and appeared in GQ. It´s a long way from being bullied on the streets of Durban. Now he´s fighting for diversity in his trade, and wants to raise awareness of albinismSanele Junior Xaba makes photographers and stylists get a little carried away. This year alone the South African model has posed naked save for a swarm of butterflies on the cover of Polish design magazine Label and worn feathered angel wings and a loincloth for Dutch art photographer Gemmy Woud-Binnendijk in a depiction of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. Viewed more than 25m times on YouTube alone, the jawdropping pièce de résistance in Sanele´s portfolio is the ad for sportswear brand Adidas Originals in which shirtless Sanele stands in for the wind god Zephyr in a dystopian reworking of Botticelli´s The Birth of Venus. Here, he writhes on a set strewn with broken computers to a cover of Sinatra´s My Way as Venus takes a selfie inside a giant satellite dish.It´s all gorgeous, captivating work, and Sanele isn´t complaining one bit, but I wonder whether he might sometimes like to be asked just to stand next to an attractive young woman at a bus stop, or mope handsomely on a staircase. You know, standard male model gigs like those performed by his contemporaries at Boss Models in Cape Town. Jobs where you turn up and pull on a beanie and some jeans, rather than don a ceremonial wreath and pour a carton of milk down your front.I realise that it sounds a bit Zoolander, but I want to play my part to promote diversity in the fashion the industryI used spray tans and very dark foundation. It looked really bad, especially because I had braces and terrible acneNow I´ve realised I can use my looks to raise awareness, I´ve started to take a lot more pride in my own albinismIn some regions, people with albinism live in fear of mutilation and murder as potions are made from their body parts Continue reading...
|
