hen we talk about fashion, we talk new trends, recycled trends and trends we all wish would simply disappear (sorry girls, high waisted jeans were not attractive before and still aren’t today). Growing in Southern California, fashion was all about the beach. My group of friends all wanted to look like a typical “California Beach Girl” and to me that meant long straight hair highlighted by the sun (if not completely blond), a golden Coppertone tan, a spray of freckles across nose and cheeks, and of course a perfectly tight skinny body. Basically, it meant being white. It meant being Malibu Barbie. Being biracial, my skin was brown, but my tangled mop of dark frizzy curls kept me feeling like an outsider. Today that beach look is changing thanks to a few trailblazers making waves to increase diversity at the beach. Gigi Lucas is one of those trailblazers. I met Gigi a few years ago while I was living in Costa Rica. I remember seeing this beautiful, strong woman walking on the beach, carrying a surfboard, thinking “WOW, that woman is badass!” and realizing I had never seen a black woman surfer before. Not only do we supposedly not surf, but if you believe the stereotypes, we don’t even swim. But there was Gigi, every day either surfing or studying the waves, breaking stereotypes.
There is a great quote by Misty Copeland, who is the first African-American principal dancer in a leading ballet company. “You can start late. Look different. Be uncertain. And still succeed.” At 13 and 5’2”, African American and curvier than most ballerinas, she hit a lot of road blocks but kept at it relentlessly until achieving the coveted title role at the prestigious American Ballet Company. When she reached that honor, she said, “This is for the little brown girls… “, inspiring many girls of color to follow in her path, just as Serena & Venus Williams have done for tennis and Simone Biles for gymnastics.
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