Alek wek children

South Sudanese-British model and designer

This article contains a Dinka name. According to Dinka custom, this person is properly addressed by the name Alek.

Alek Wek
Wek at the Red Collection for The Heart Truth campaign
Born	() 16 April (age&#;47) Wau, Sudan (now South Sudan)
Occupation	Model
Years&#;active	–present
Partner	Riccardo Sala ()
Modelling information
Height	&#;m (5&#;ft 11&#;in)
Hair colour	Dark brown
Eye colour	Brown
Agency

Alek Wek (born 16 April ) is a South Sudanese-British model and designer who began her fashion career at the age of 18 in She has been hailed for her influence on the perception of beauty in the fashion industry.

She is from the Dinka ethnic group in South Sudan,^[2] but fled to Britain in to escape the civil war in Sudan.^[3] In , she was listed as one of BBC's Women.^[4]

Early life

Alek was born April 16, , and she was born in Wau, Sudan (now South Sudan), in a two-bedroom house without electricity or running water, and is the seventh of nine children.^[5] Her mother Akuol (b.

) was a housewife, and her father Athian (–) was an education official. Her name reportedly means "Black Spotted Cow".^[6]

When the civil war broke out in Wau in , the Wek family had to flee from both rebel and government forces. Her father, Athian, once broke his hip in a bicycle accident, and his hip was repaired with metal pins.

Alek wek biography Alek Wek born 16 April is a South Sudanese - British model and designer who began her fashion career at the age of 18 in She has been hailed for her influence on the perception of beauty in the fashion industry. She is from the Dinka ethnic group in South Sudan , [2] but fled to Britain in to escape the civil war in Sudan. Alek was born April 16, , and she was born in Wau , Sudan now South Sudan , in a two-bedroom house without electricity or running water, and is the seventh of nine children. Her name reportedly means "Black Spotted Cow".

Long periods of walking caused Athian's hip to get infected, and upon the family's return to Wau, he became paralysed and endured a haemorrhage. He died at a relative's home in Khartoum.^[7]

Career

Beginnings

After arriving in London at age 14, Alek's psoriasis immediately cleared.

She enrolled in the London College of Fashion and studied Fashion Business and Technology.^[8]

Alek was discovered at an outdoor market in in Crystal Palace, London^[3] by a Models 1 scout. She appeared in the music video for "GoldenEye" by Tina Turner that year, and shortly thereafter began fashion modeling.

She was signed to Ford Models in ^[2] and also appeared in the "Got 'Til It's Gone" music video by Janet Jackson that year. She was named "Model of the Year" in by MTV,^[9] and was the first African model to appear on the cover of Elle that year.^[10]

Modelling

Alek has modelled for many notable fashion houses.^[11] She has appeared on the cover of American, French, German and South African Elle as well as i-D, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Forbes Magazine Africa and Ebony.

She has also been featured in editorials in American and British Vogue. In she made her acting debut in The Four Feathers as Sudanese princess Aquol.^[12]Herb Ritts photographed her for a calendar in a Joanne Gairbody painting that was a highlight of Gair's first retrospective.^[13]

In September , Alek walked for Marc Jacobs at Spring/Summer New York Fashion Week, later appearing in the label's Spring Summer campaign.

In May , she modelled for four special edition covers of Brazilian Elle.^[14]

Image

Dark-skinned models were rare, if not unheard of, in the high fashion industry. As a result, Alek's mainstream success was celebrated by black women all over the world. Oprah Winfrey commented that "if Alek had been on the cover of a magazine when I was growing up, I would have had a different concept of who I was."^[15] In a speech on beauty and self-perception,^[16] Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong'o stated that she had been a self-conscious, insecure teenager before seeing Alek in the spotlight: "When I saw Alek, I inadvertently saw a reflection of myself that I could not deny.

Now, I had a spring in my step because I felt more seen, more appreciated by the far-away gatekeepers of beauty".^[17]

Designing

Alek also designs a range of designer handbags called "Wek ", which are available throughout selected Selfridges department stores. The name refers to the year her father was born.^[18] Her inspiration for the designs came from the brass-clasp briefcase carried by her father.^[19]

Campaigning

Since , Alek has been an advisor to the U.S.

Committee for Refugees Advisory Council,^[20] which helps to raise awareness about the situation in Sudan, as well as the plight of refugees worldwide.

She is a missionary for World Vision, an organisation which combats AIDS, an ambassador for Doctors Without Borders in Sudan, and devotes time to UNICEF.^[21]

In , she released an autobiography, entitled Alek: From Sudanese Refugee to International Supermodel, documenting her journey from a childhood of poverty in Sudan to the catwalks of Europe.^[22]

In , she appeared as a guest judge in the sixteenth cycle of America's Next Top Model.

In July , she returned to South Sudan with the UN Refugee Agency to highlight the stories of refugees returning from the north and the massive efforts needed to build and stabilise the country.^[23] In , Alek teamed up with Amarula as the face of their campaign African Originals.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

As of , Wek resided in Brooklyn, New York.^[1] She was in a relationship with Riccardo Sala, an Italian real estate developer, for twelve years; they separated in ^[11] She is the aunt of the runway model Ataui Deng.^[24]

Filmography

See also

References

External links