South African lawyer turned model, Thando Hopa, has made history. Hopa became the first women with albinism to cover Vogue magazine.

Hopa appears on the cover of this month's Vogue Portugal titled Africa Motherland.

“This edition celebrates boundless creative resources of Africans and Afro-descendants through fashion, beauty, art, lifestyle, entertainment and culture.” says Patricia Domingues, Features Editor at Vogue Portugal.

Hopa says she was shocked when first contacted for the cover.

“I was in total disbelief when I was first contacted to do the cover. My mother thought I was going to be trafficked by a bunch of strangers” Thando laughs as she relates her experience leading to this cover.

“The shock was probably because we’ve never come across a woman with albinism on a Vogue cover. I felt a bit overwhelmed, thinking about the many barriers the very existence of this representation could break” Thando added.

Hopa and advocate for diversity will be hosting a panel of industry trailblazers and businesswomen at the Beauty Revolution festival, which is the first of it's kind in South Africa, taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on the 6th and 7th April.