Rojane Fradique Santos (1986- ) is a Brazilian fashion model. Along with Emanuela de Paula and Carmelita Mendes, she is one of the top black models in Brazil.
She is tall and thin. At 1.82 metres she is taller than most men. She has dark brown skin, high cheekbones, thick lips and big feet. You hardly see her smile because she has a space between her two front teeth. She looks like a work of art and moves with grace. The Brazilian press calls her look “exotic”.
The fashion industry in Brazil, as in North America and Europe, prefers women who are tall and thin with white skin, blue eyes and yellow hair. Rojane has the first two and makes up for the rest with her never-say-die spirit.
She has appeared on the runway in Rio, Sao Paulo, Paris and Singapore. She has been in magazines like Vogue Brasil, Vogue Teen, Cool, S/N, Curvas and Revista da Folha. She has modelled for Arezzo shoes. She would like to model for Victoria’s Secret.
Most fashion shows in Brazil have one black model in the summer. She is often that one black woman.
Black models in Brazil broke into advertising in the 1990s but they are still rare in the world of fashion. Elite has 300 models in Brazil: only ten are black. Rojane is one. Elite says there is not enough work for more black models – in a country that is only half white.
Rojane grew up in a poor part of Salvador in Bahia in the north-east. Her father was a school janitor, her mother a manicurist. They were poor: sometimes they had no dinner to eat.
She helped her mother do nails, saving her money and dreaming of one day becoming a model.
Her teachers told her she would never succeed as a model. She did not give up. She went to every modelling agency in the city. Every single one told her no. Still she did not give up. She signed up for modelling contests but was never picked. Still she did not give up.
One day she heard that Elite was holding a worldwide modelling contest. She signed up. She walked 2.5 kilometres to where the Salvador part of the contest was being held, but they told her the date had been changed. She walked there again and came in first!
So at 17 she got on the bus for Sao Paulo to take part in the nationwide contest. She came in second, enough to get her to the worldwide contest in Singapore. The judges said she was one of the top 15 models there. Elite signed her.
In Sao Paulo she caught the eye of Paulo Borges, the head of Sao Paulo Fashion Week, the biggest fashion show in the country. He liked her for her beauty and for her spirit: she knows what she wants and never gives up.
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Thanks for showcasing that gorgeous Brazilian beauty. She deserves all the props she could get in this black/mulatto hostile world of modeling. Keep up the good work, Abagond!
Stephanie B.
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Kudos to her for her determination. Hopefully she ‘will’ make it to that Victoria’s Secret shoot, I also think she’d be pretty good in a Brasilian novela as well.
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She’s gorgeousand her astory is inspirational.. God Bless her and I hope she becomes a Victoria’s secret mannequin.. Keep up the good work, Rojane? Thanks Agabond I love your site.
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Thanks. Rojane will do us all proud.
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IF EVER IN NY GIVE ME A CALL
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Hi, How can I get a beautiful Black Woman?I had gone to many websites but I could not get in toutch wih any black woman directly,is there any way you can help?I live in the USA attending college and planning to meet my life partner but I haven’t been successful on my own that is why i’m passing through you.If you get any one kindly give her my enail address to contact me or send her own contact addresss
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I have to say that this lady is surely one the most beautifull and charming woman i’ve ever seen. It’s my opinion. Thanks God that He have created this kinda beautiness on earth. 🙂
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You know Abagond I think on the hostility you felt from your list (ten most beautiful black women of Brazil) is due to the fact that white women and practically every other ethnicity with the exception of black women are held up as a standard of beauty in the world. So we as black women have serious insecurities especially a list that has (according to our perception) some white or latin looking women as a part of a top ten list. It’s like damn, I can’t even be the prettiest on my own list.
I personally love the color of my skin and the texture of my hair and no longer look to the media and others to validate me. But it breaks my heart to know that many of my sisters feel ugly beacause of their hair texture and skin color. I think Rojane is gorgeous but unfortunately many do not think so.I hope you understand where I am coming from. I do look forward to the day that we all can accept our own and be ourselves.
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OMG I did’nt realize this was posted in 2007. Oh well, things unfortunately have’nt changed much in regards to how black women (particularly dark) are viewed in the world and not held up as a standard of beauty.
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What a shame. What a damn shame.
The blackest woman on this list of “ten most beautiful black women of Brazil”.. is Rojane Fradique.. and Rojane Fradique alone. Wait.. maybe there was ONE other woman who classifies as an actual black woman.. but, that’s it. And that’s all. It’s a shame that TRUE black beauty, can never really be admired on it’s own. It STANDS on it’s own, its always has. Its always shocked people, its always unsettled people, its always intimidated people.. it always has. But just the same, ever since whites laid eyes on it, it has been under attack NONSTOP. This “list” is a prime example of the ongoing attack on the dark, truly black African woman.
5^ to Ms. M.. I agree wholeheartedly with you girl. Well said.
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I am in love~!
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[…] photo of fabulous Brazilian model Rojane Fradique perfectly illustrates what I’ve been saying for so long — bright colors look so […]
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Don’t think I ever saw a woman as beautiful as this one.
XXXX
Peter
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[…] Source principale: Agabond […]
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These are BRAZILIAN black women. Why are you upset that Brazilian black women don’t look like American black women? There is alot more admixture in Brazil. It is one of the few places where black female sexuality is accepted as fact. In various shades of black. Rather than as exception, like in the US. In the US, you are “pretty for a black girl”
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Rojane is such an inspiration to me. Beautiful. and the fact they put she has a space in teeth attributes to her being discovered by her unique look and smile. I have a space in my teeth also and love myself! I always wanted to have a unique look!
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She is extremely beautiful no doubt about her beauty
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