Zendaya Coleman covers the December 2015 issue of FLARE magazine photographed by Nino Muñoz and styled by Sarah Schussheim.
Let’s close out the day with a little bit of pretty and a whole lot of really smart words. Take it away, Zendaya:
“There have been black Barbies, but not ones with locs or even natural hair or different facial structures. When I was little, I had a Barbie, but I didn’t have a Barbie that looked like me because there was no mixed-girl-with-curly-hair Barbie!”
“In the words of Tupac Shakur: I am a real model because I’m not playing a role and I’m not pretending to be some good kid that’s perfect. It just happens that I’m a good kid, and I don’t do bad stuff and I like to be positive because that’s just how I was raised. I think if I were faking it, then you would’ve seen me break character a long time ago.”
“A big reason I play with beauty and hair is that it’s important to show different kinds of beauty when I’m on the red carpet. I don’t want to be just one-dimensional or relatable to one type of person. I want a different woman to be like, ‘That’s like me! That’s like my hair!’ or ‘That’s so my style!’ If I went out there and was just like, pretty, all the time, doing the same thing, it can be cool, but you’re also catering to one type of person, and what about all those other kinds of beautiful out there?”
“I’ve had a lot of voices tell me what I should be making. Personally, I would much rather live and die by my own hand. If my stuff sucks, then at least I made it suck. I didn’t allow some person, some old dude in a suit, to make it suck for me.”
“A feminist is a person who believes in the power of women just as much as they believe in the power of anyone else. It’s equality, it’s fairness, and I think it’s a great thing to be a part of.”
LUV. HUH.
Style Credits:
Marc Jacobs Resort 2016 Collection
Michael Kors Resort 2016 Collection
Dion Lee Resort 2016 Collection
Giambattista Valli Resort 2016 Collection
Topshop Unique Resort 2016 Collection
[Photo Credit: Nino Muñoz/Courtesy of FLARE Magazine, Marc Jacobs, Dion Lee, Michael Kors, Giambattista Valli, Topshop Unique]