Have you gotten your hand on the second issue of Trinidad Lookbook magazine? Since we passed the magazine and templates from our agency’s hands to the client and her team, bid farewell to Mel and Lookbook and wished it our best, we’ve been waiting, anticipating the look of the second issue.
Lookbook 2 did not disappoint. The layouts were well thought out, once again with beautiful photography. The stories were interesting and fun though some were a bit long and the print quality improved. From the surprisingly art-deco cover shot to the metropolitan-like Caribbean scenes, it was a page-turner.
There is an editorial spread by photographer and digital artist Laura Ferreira, ‘Truly Elite’, starring what I call a ‘polished black’ model, Shan Fernandez. Shan herself is actually a lighter shade of brown but her complexion was deliberately altered for the editorial. Making her appear much, much darker. Which is interesting considering the opposite types of alterations are far more common and ‘the norm’
Being a dark-skinned girl myself it may seem strange to say that I’ve always been very in love with the very dark, seemingly polished complexions of models like Alec Wek and Melodie Monrose and Leomie Anderson. I have always admired their skin tones and almost sculptural beauty, wishing I could appear so flawless. I say ‘it may seem strange’, as I know the more common feeling would, perhaps, have been to prefer to be lighter. I haven’t come across many people, while growing up in the Caribbean, that share my admiration of a darker skin tone. Generally, lighter shades of brown have been deemed as more preferred. I don’t know whether the reason for that is the ‘post-colonial thing’ or the ‘ignorant thing’ or the ‘preferred’ thing and I am not out to debate it; I just love my skin colour although at times I might wish for a deeper monotone.
With the advent of my addiction to various Tumblrs and their lovely editorial photographs of so many different types of models, I am now even more in awe of all skin tones - from pale, freckled, mixed beauties with wiry bronze hair to super black polished gems! The massive array of skin types, hair types, body types and features of all combinations is so wide and vast in beauty it baffles me how any single description can exist for the word ‘Beautiful’.
While some may find the super-pigmentation of the model in the Lookbook spread unattractive or controversial, I couldn’t stop admiring the photos and the styling of the shoot. It’s one of my favourite pieces in the magazine’s new issue, not just because the model is dark-skinned, but because the treatment is so dark it’s almost graphic! The contrast with the brightly coloured clothing, accessories and feathers added to the beauty of it.
What’s your opinion of the ‘Super Black’ and have you picked up your copy of the new Trinidad Lookbook magazine yet?
