Zoe Gabriel, the Singapore-based Filipino teen who got bashed over a Charles & Keith “luxury” bag, has been tapped as model for the brand’s ad campaign.
The 17-year-old joins a group of women for the fashion label’s campaign to mark the International Women’s Day this March 8, according to Singapore’s Strait Times.
“Women are like flowers: Our time and needs to grow may not always align, but that is okay,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
“We are like fields of poppy and lakes of lotus – diverse and bold in our differences, beautiful in our own ways.”
She posed with a purple Alia bag, which according to Strait Times, is a special edition of one of the brand’s best-selling designs.
Charles & Keith has committed to donate 20 per cent of the proceeds from sales of the bag to the Storytelling For Gender Equality programme of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
Zoe has been living in Singapore with her family since 2010. She went viral earlier this year for her TikTok unboxing video of a Charles & Keith bag, a gift from her father and which she called “my first luxury bag.”
However, she received hate from some netizens who questioned why she described the fashion label as a “luxury” brand. In a touching followup video, she explained that coming from a humble background, what’s already considered luxury to her might not be for others.
She won sympathy from the online community and even got invited to the brand’s headquarters in Singapore.
