What is the color of beauty?

For decades the world of fashion was inhabited solely by white women. But as western society has become more racially diverse so have the models inhabiting the catwalks and fashion shoots.

Now a major luxury brand has chosen a woman of color to be the face of the company.

The Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o has been recently named an ambassador for Lancôme. She will be a high profile member in the elite world of high-end fashion and beauty advertising. 

This could be a start of a new trend.

It is projected that by 2050 in the United States, women of color will make up 53 percent of the female population. If this projection is accurate, then it seems only natural that the beauty industry would change its representatives accordingly.  

However, Nyong’o, in accepting her endorsement, was careful to emphasize that, 

“beauty should not be dictated, but should instead be an expression of a woman’s freedom to be herself.”