Zinnia Kumar is an Indian Australian

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

and advocate.

Career

Zinnia Kumar is a fashion model consumer psychologist, CIEEM accredited

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

, and representation in fashion advocate

Model

Zinnia is the first

to cover any international edition of

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

Magazine in 128 years. She is the first Indian and the first South Asian Australian to cover Australian Vogue in 62 years. Zinnia appeared on the Porter Magazine August 2021 cover and was labelled 'Force of Nature'. Zinnia was named the 50 Most Influential Global Indians by Vogue India in 2019. In 2021 Zinnia was nominated as a Social Mover and change maker by models.com. Zinnia has worked for Russh,

Interview Magazine ''Interview'' is an American magazine founded in late 1969 by artist Andy Warhol and British journalist John Wilcock. The magazine, nicknamed "The Crystal Ball of Pop", features interviews with celebrities, artists, musicians, and creative thinke ...

, Another Magazine, British Vogue, Vogue China, Vogue France, Vogue Italia, Vogue Germany, Vogue Korea, CAP74024, ''

Vogue India ''Vogue India'' is the Indian edition of the monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine ''Vogue''. It is the 17th international edition of ''Vogue'' and the first edition in South Asia. ''Vogue India'' is published by Condé Nast India Pvt. Ltd., a ...

'''',

Vogue Australia ''Vogue'' ''Australia'' is the Australian edition of ''Vogue'' magazine. ''Vogue Australia'' became the 4th edition of Vogue in 1959 after ''Vogue'', ''British Vogue'' and ''Vogue Paris''. Prior to becoming a stand-alone issue, the Australian edit ...

,'' ''

Harpers Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

, Dior, Jacquemus, Vivienne Westwood,'' among others. Zinnia has also acted as an Amazonian warrior in the film ''Wonder Woman''. Zinnia Kumar's journey into modelling was not straightforward, she was initially scouted but then rejected by every agency in Australia for being racially Indian despite being born in Australia. She was told by Australian agencies ''“We only take Anglos or half-Anglos"'' and ''“have you thought about modelling in your own country?”''. After facing racism, she quit pursuing modelling and moved to the UK to study, whilst on Tottenham Court Road on her way to UCL library, she was scouted again by her current manager. ''"I was working three jobs at the time to pay for university, so actually modelling and being paid for it sounded like a dream! In 2016, I became the first agency signed, Indian model from Australia without white ancestry."''

Environmentalism and conservation

Zinnia is a field conservation ecologist having worked with Little Blue Penguins, invertebrates and wetland birds for the ''

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

Birdlife BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

'' and ''Department of Environment'' among others. She is a former

Australian Museum The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest museum in Australia,Design 5, 2016, p.1 and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the ...

science communicator. Zinnia is a CIEEM accredited ecologist, sustainability consultant and hold a BSc (Advanced) in Ecology from

UNSW The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

, Australia.

Advocacy and humanitarianism

Zinnia Kumar is a vocal Indian representation in fashion activist. Zinnia is interested in deconstructing colonial beauty ideals through history of scientific racism. She has researched how colorism disempowers women whilst at the University of Oxford. Her beauty advocacy involves podcasts, interviews, journalism & talks using mixed media. Zinnia is the CEO and founder of sustainability and South Asian representation organisation The Dotted Line'''. Zinnia is interested in educational access and empowerment as a tool for social transformation. Zinnia spent a decade empowering refugee and disadvantaged children in Australia, India and Thailand. She was selected by the ''Department of Foreign Affairs'' as a youth ambassador and is a ''Rotary Youth Leadership Awardee''. Zinnia grew up with social anxiety she over came it by training in speaking & presenting at ''NIDA'' & ''RADA'', she has been a member of ''Toastmasters International (Public Speaking Society)'' for a decade and is a member of

The Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...

. She has presented, spoken and delivered keynotes for ''

British Fashion Council The British Fashion Council (BFC) is a non-profit organization that aims to enable sustainable growth of British fashion in the global fashion economy. Founded in 1983, the BFC organizes biannual womenswear and menswear showcases, London Fashi ...

, Cancer Council, H&M, Australasian Evolution Society,

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' among others. Her work covers motivational speaking and advocacy in beauty, inclusion, education, sustainability and female empowerment.

Personal life

Zinnia Kumar was born in Sydney, Australia to Indian parents and grew up in Sydney's south-western suburbs. She is a 5th generation Indian immigrant, and her family have lived in Oceania since 1879. She has Northern, Southern & Eastern Indian ancestry, with Punjabi and

Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, w ...

from her fathers side, and

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and

Tamilian The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Dravi ...

from her mothers side. She attended a disadvantaged high school and self learned her final year studies. Zinnia Kumar attended

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

for a Bachelor of Advanced Science, in Ecology and Human Evolutionary Biology with First Class honours, she matriculated at ''

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

,''

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

for an ''MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies,'' and holds an MSc in Industrial, Organisational and Business Psychology at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

focusing on sustainability and Indian representation in fashion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Zinnia Living people

Zinnia Kumar Zinnia Kumar is an Indian Australian fashion model and advocate. Career Zinnia Kumar is a fashion model consumer psychologist, CIEEM accredited ecologist, and representation in fashion advocate Model Zinnia is the first ecologist to cov ...

Models from Sydney Australian biologists University of New South Wales alumni Australian media personalities 21st-century Australian actresses Australian people of Indian descent Year of birth missing (living people)