GQ. Even
Vogue, which had rejected her earlier, gave her spreads and, in 2017, conferred her the Model of the Year award.
Girl power
In 2016, Sunil partnered with her friend Jill Ulrich McElya on the nonprofit, Invisible Girl Project. “We have 450 girls, all of whom were essentially abandoned by their families because in India it’s very hard for people from lower economic backgrounds to take on the financial obligations of having a girl child,” she explains. “We fundraise [in the US] and we partner with on-ground facilities in India, to provide extra infrastructure for whatever they don’t have for instance, access to schools or medication.” They also monitor what is going on in and around the villages [in Chennai and Delhi, where they are based] to ‘rescue vulnerable babies and girls from being killed or trafficked’. “In 2020 we were selected to present at the UN CSW [United Nations Commission on the Status of Women] because we’re doing a lot of work around
Woman to know
Nidhi Sunil made headlines earlier this week as the newest global ambassador for L’Oréal Paris. This lawyer-turned-model in her 30s from Kerala is a familiar face for her campaigns and fashion magazine covers. But it is her work to promote diversity and as spokesperson for The Invisible Girl Project, a non profit that tackles gendercide in India, that makes her a great voice on this platform. “Beauty really is about perspective,” Sunil, who has spoken out against colourism, told New York-based Paper magazine last year. “I grew up in a country where I constantly felt ugly, and then when I moved to America, every time I walk into a room people would look at me with these big googly eyes, like I m this crazy, weird beautiful alien that walked into a room, so it is literally just a mindset.” As the first Indian ambassador at L’Oréal who is not a Bollywood actor, she is all set to drive the narrative for women. More power to her.
L oreal Paris ropes in Nidhi Sunil as its international spokesperson adgully.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from adgully.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
“I wasn’t trying to be a colourism advocate,” says Nidhi Sunil over a Zoom call. “But once I started modelling, I was faced with so many professional roadblocks that I had to combat it and stand up for myself.” The model, actress and philanthropist, who grew up in South India and went to school in Bombay, has just been announced as L’Oréal Paris’ new Global Ambassador. Sunil worked in environmental law before signing with Elite Model Management in Bombay at age 22. In the last 10 years, she has graced the pages of international magazines, appeared in films, and starred and fashion and beauty campaigns. Today, she becomes the first Indian model to be signed as a Global Ambassador for L’Oréal Paris.