Marlén Maradiaga

Marlén Maradiaga is an Afro-Mexican model and creative from Oaxaca, Mexico. Represented by Talento Espina, she is part of a generation of Oaxacan models expanding the representation of Afro-Mexican, Indigenous, and brown-skinned communities within Mexican fashion and media. Her modeling work has appeared in Vogue México and Office Magazine, and she was featured in Rizos Curls’ Celebra Tus Rizos campaign alongside Karen Vega and Noemí García. Maradiaga has spoken about her natural Afro and curls as expressions of her ancestry and roots, and has participated in public conversations about diversity and representation in Mexican media. Maradiaga also appears as herself in the hybrid documentary feature They Came From the Clouds (Ellas Vinieron de Las Nubes), which follows three young Afro-Mexicans in Oaxaca through stories of family, migration, memory, and ancestral traditions.