Published on: February 11, 2016
Herieth Paul's advertising campaign with Maybelline, one of the world's biggest makeup companies, is set to launch in the spring.
Herieth Paul’s advertising campaign with Maybelline, one of the world’s biggest makeup companies, is set to launch in the spring. ANGIE SAKLA-SEYMOUR
Calling it the highlight of her career, Ottawa’s Herieth Paul has hit the jackpot, landing the plum role as global spokesmodel for Maybelline New York. The Tanzanian-born stunner will make her advertising debut with one of the world’s top beauty companies in the spring.

Paul started strutting down runways at fashion weeks in London, Paris, New York and Milan when she was 17, and has enjoyed numerous exclusive gigs with designers, like Tom Ford, Rodarte and Polo Ralph Lauren. The 20-year-old is now in the big leagues and joins other supermodels on the Maybelline roster, including Christy Turlington, Adriana Lima, Gigi Hadid and Jourdan Dunn.

Herieth Paul shown backstage at the Tom Ford show at London Fashion Week in 2013.
Herieth Paul shown backstage at the Tom Ford show at London Fashion Week in 2013. ANGIE SAKLA-SEYMOUR

“We are all on Cloud 9,” says Paul’s Ottawa agent Angie Sakla-Seymour of Angie’s Models & Talent International. “This is major. I was speaking with Herieth’s mother last night in Tanzania and we’re over the moon.”

The former student at Gloucester’s Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School, who makes more than $10,000 a day modelling, caught the eye of famed photographer Steven Meisel while shooting for Italian Vogue. Her stardom spiked once she had her head shaved into a buzz cut in 2010.

The five-foot-11 exotic beauty first signed with Salka-Seymour in 2009. Paul’s first runway experience was at Ottawa Fashion Week and since then, she’s walked for the likes of Stella McCartney, Balmain, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Philip Lim, DKNY and Zac Posen. Her face has appeared in Vogue, Flare, Elle, Glamour and Le Monde, to name a few.

Ottawa's Herieth Paul walked the runway wearing Zarucci by Nora Zabarah Pucci at Angie's Models & Talent International 2014 gala showcase Rock the Runway at the Canadian War Museum in May 2014.
Ottawa’s Herieth Paul walked the runway wearing Zarucci by Nora Zabarah Pucci at Angie’s Models & Talent International 2014 gala showcase Rock the Runway at the Canadian War Museum in May 2014. ASHLEY FRASER / OTTAWA CITIZEN STYLE

“Herieth has an incredible aura; she is smart, strikingly beautiful and has a lovely personality. In photographs, she captivates you with her beauty and in person she exudes a refreshing and unpretentious gorgeousness, which women around the world will be able to relate to,” said Leonardo Chavez, global brand president of Maybelline New York Worldwide, in a release.

Paul, who has 26,500 Instagram followers, has also been nominated as Model of the Year at the annual Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards. The gala takes place April 15 in Toronto. Paul and her mother, Nsia Paul, will be in Ottawa on May 7 to attend Sakla-Seymour’s fashion runway event, which showcases the agent’s aspiring actors and models to international talent scouts.

Source: Ottawa Citizen