SA model featured in next Pirelli Calendar
MODEL Thando Hopa is set to fly the South African flag high when she appears in the prestigious Pirelli Calendar alongside international stars like Whoopi Goldberg‚ Lupita Nyong’o‚ Naomi Campbell and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Hopa, 28, is the first black South African to feature in the calendar and recently posted a picture of herself on the set of the shoot with Goldberg.
In the picture Hopa can be seen wearing a white flowing dress and veil‚ with Goldberg to her right.
The 2018 edition of the calendar‚ which was snapped by Vogue photographer Tim Walker in London recently‚ was inspired by John Tenniel’s original illustrations for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
Hopa had the role of the Princess of Hearts.
She called it an honour to work with icons she had grown up watching on screen.
“For me it was always about creating awareness and expanding on diversity.
“But to be asked to work together with icons I have always admired‚ to make a mark in the cultural development of visual storytelling‚ is an honour I cannot begin to express‚” she said.
The calendar was more than just a pretty photoshoot, Hopa said.
“I realised that we weren’t just taking pretty pictures of a fairytale‚ we are building legacies for generations to come‚ so they can be bolder and build stories beyond the stereotypes that bind them.”
Hopa shot to fame after being scouted by fashion designer Gert-Johan Coetzee in 2012. Over the past five years she has become an activist for people with albinism.
The shoot’s producer Jeff Delich was impressed by Hopa and said the model’s advocacy brought “an added layer of importance” to the calendar.
“Working with Thando was a privilege for myself and the rest of the cast and crew.
“She is an eloquent and erudite voice for equality and social justice in the world.
“Her participation in the project gave it an added layer of importance‚ for which I am personally very grateful‚” Delich said.
The Pirelli Calendar will be released in November.