Thando Hopa is a South African model, lawyer, and activist redefining beauty, diversity, and representation globally.
For the longest time, African beauty was described in narrow shades of fair, dark, or melanin-rich skin. However, somewhere between those shades, a whole group of people was left out of the conversation. For generations, Africans with albinism were left to wonder where they belonged – too light to be considered “Black enough,” yet too African to be anything else.
People with albinism have historically been marginalised due to societal beauty standards. Their unique appearance challenges conventional colour classifications, leading to a paradoxical existence where society both acknowledges and ostracises them simultaneously.
Thando Hopa grew up in this tension. A South African woman with albinism, she refused to fit into anyone’s definition. Instead, she built her own and made the world see beauty in a different light.
Born in 1989 in Sebokeng, South Africa, Hopa grew up in a family that already knew what it meant to be “different.” Her sibling also had albinism, so she wasn’t alone in dealing with stares, whispers, and misconceptions. Living in a society that often equated beauty with pigment, Hopa learned early how it felt to be seen as an exception rather than an expression of normal.
Instead of shrinking from it, she turned that difference into fuel, pursued law at the University of the Witwatersrand and went on to become Johannesburg’s youngest sexual offence prosecutor.
Going further, Hopa’s life took a new turn in 2012 when South African designer Gert-Johan Coetzee discovered her. Modelling was never part of her plan, but she quickly saw it as a form of advocacy. Every time she stepped on a runway, she was challenging centuries of aesthetic bias that labelled beauty in certain skin shades.
Her image on the cover of Vogue Portugal in 2019 as the first ever by a woman with albinism made global headlines. A year before that, she became the first South African person of colour to appear in the iconic Pirelli Calendar.
Hopa’s influence didn’t stop at the surface. She became a leading voice for inclusion and representation. As Vice Chairperson and Advisory Board Member of the African Albinism Network, she works to end discrimination and violence against people with albinism across Africa.
Her advocacy, recognised globally through honours like the BBC 100 Women award in 2018, is rooted in education, storytelling, and empathy. Through her company, Thando Hopa Media Pty Ltd, she produces work that democratises beauty and amplifies underrepresented narratives.
