WHEN Eunice Olumide was growing up on a deprived estate on the outskirts of Edinburgh, she was aware her skin colour marked her out as different.
Yet even though she has left her humble origins far behind to embark on a jet-set career in the worlds of fashion and film, the supermodel says that attitudes towards women of colour still have a long way to go in Scotland.
The model and actress shared her experiences climbing to the top of her famously competitive profession to an audience of ethnic women seeking a return to employment at the Adopt An Intern (AAI) event at the Edinburgh City Arts Centre yesterday.
Speaking afterwards, she was in a reflective mood about the challenges and roadblocks she has faced, including racism and an “institutional” preference for lighter-skinned models in her home country.
She said: “I’m so desensitised, mentally and physically, towards the racial side of things that it’s no longer an issue for me.
“When I was growing up, there was the National Front, and the BNP. It’s a lot better nowadays than what it was.
“But in the UK, people are not always aware of it. You won’t get jobs and they will give a different reason that the one you suspect is the case – that they don’t want a woman of colour.
“In other countries they are much more upfront and say they just don’t want a black model for the shoot.”
READ MORE: Supermodel launches campaign to get women back into work
A writer and broadcaster, as well as a style icon, the 30-year-old holds a first-class degree in first class honours degree in Communication and Mass Media from Glasgow Caledonian University and a postgrad degree in film studies from Queen Mary University of London.
She grew up in Wester Hailes in Edinburgh, the daughter of immigrants from Nigeria, and was spotted at the age of 15 by a talent scout while shopping in Glasgow.
She says that her drive to succeed has sometimes caused her problems, and she has also run up against stereotypical attitudes she believes hurt her career.
She said: “I have had moments in my career where I caused myself problems. There was a photo shoot I was sent on for a popular department store, who hired a make-up artist from Chanel.
“Chanel don’t do a foundation which suits a woman of colour. They just don’t make it. But when I talked about this they were really unsympathetic. The artist ended up grinding up a black eyeliner pencil and rubbing it onto my face. It really hurt and I complained.”
She added: “She went back and said I was being difficult, and it all fit in with this stereotype of the ‘angry black woman’ – the stereotype which comes from Naomi Campbell, Grace Jones, women like that. No-one wanted to work with me after that for the next few years. It really hurt me.”
READ MORE: Eunice Olumide lands role in Star Wars: Rogue One
With a career which has taken her all over the world, she has gained a unique perspective on the media landscape of her native land.
And she says that attitudes in Scotland towards black and ethnic women still need to change. Many people in the fashion industry look for the easy option, she says, and are wary of taking an exotic route.
She said: “In Scotland there is an institutional tradition where people keep to the status quo. Across the Scottish fashion industry, in newspapers and magazines, it’s far behind the rest of the UK.
Because it’s a smaller world you have people who stay in jobs for 10 to 20 years and they go with what they are familiar with. They become complacent.
“But in other parts of the UK, decisions are driven by the need to be commercial, so they are more open to the new and the exotic.”
Her advice to other women seeking to make their mark on the world is to have a plan, know what they want, and make sure to learn ho to achieve it. She said: “You have to define your own level of success and define what success means to you.
“Make clear goals and be realistic about the reality of achieving them. Realise that there will be roadblocks in your way.
“There are things you can’t change about yourself – your height, your colour. But you can change your attitude. You can change your education. You can make yourself more employable.”
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