from Leadership Nigeria
The started appearing on catwalks in 1995, when she was 18 and the stars have continued to shine for the striking Sudanese born model, Alek Wek, as she has since walked the runway for very high profile fashion designers which include John Galliano, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Fendi, Ermano Scervino, Jean Paul Gauliter, Ralph Lauren, Haltson, YSL, Michael Kors, Valentino, Gucci and many more. She has also appeared on ads for Issey Miyake, Moschino, Victoria Secret and Clinique and is not peddling down as she is still signing more ad and runway contracts at 30.
Alek Wek was born into a southern Sudanese Dinka tribe family in 1977 and was raised in a close knit family, in the small village of Wau. "In my country", she says, "Families are raised as though they are one. Although I am from the Dinka tribe, my parents didn't raise us as the Dinka tribe. They raised us as the Wek family in the way they believed their children should grow up".
She was named the black and white cow after a tribal good luck symbol and this name is sure bringing her luck as she now has all the fame and success she can garner.
In 1982, a civil war broke out between the Muslim north and Christian south of Sudan, the Wek family fled Wau and moved to Khartoum, the capital. Her father however underwent a hip replacement surgery but unfortunately passed on as a result of complications arising from the surgery.
So, this prompted the Weks' decision to leave Sudan. Alek's elder sister had moved to Britain before the civil war and hence filed for refuge status on behalf of her family. In 1991, Alek Wek and her younger sister moved to Britain, her mother and the remaining siblings joined two years after.
Fortune smiled on Alek while she was studying Fashion technology and business at the prestigious London college of Fashion. She was shopping at an outdoor market when she was discovered by models one scout, Fiona Ellis in 1995.
She signed on to Models one and it wasn't long before the success story began for the African queen as she was immediately selected to appear in the music video for Golden eye by Tina Turner. She also appeared on the pages of cutting edge publications vibe and iD, hence made it into the world of fashion as one of the world's top models.
She moved on to Ford modelling agency in 1996 and her modelling career kept sky rocketing as high profile designers couldn't have enough of the young African model who had this very rare and distinctive look.
She appeared in Janet Jackson's got till its gone video that year, walked numerous runways and appeared in highly placed ads. She went on to clinch a couple of awards, which include Best new model award at the Venus de la Mode fashion award, 1997 MTV model of the year award, and model of the decade by i-D.
Her achievements as one of the world's top model cannot be underestimated as she became one of the most expensive models in the world, earning a mouth watering 2.7 million pounds a year in 2002. Alek took a shot at acting that same year when she appeared in the movie, The Four Feathers as Sudanese Princess Aquol
The intelligent, smart and self driven African ethnic beauty also started designing her range of designer handbags called "Wek 1933", a name she decides to use in memory of her late father who was born in the year 1933.
In 2004, she was named the face of the Cape Town fashion week. She was also face of the This Day style awards held in Lagos, Nigeria in 2006. She is Africa's pride to behold and has been described as a success story for the African continent and one of the very few to have a successful modelling career outside the African shores.
Alek has been compared to Somalia born model that has been described as one of the world's greatest beauty and greatest models, Iman Abdulmajid, which she considers an honour. She has also been described as beautiful and chic by renowned designer, Karl Lager field and this she considers very exciting, "Chic was just a word that never popped into my head. Functional, yes, fashionable, lovely but to hear chic from Karl of all people was beyond exciting".
Alek is filled with great confidence and is not one for any form of self decapitating as she believes that true beauty always comes from inside and has a way of radiating through the person.
"I have no problem with whatever the next big look is, whether it is big blond hair and blue eyes or green hair and dark eyes," she says, "That's fine, so long as there isn't just one ideal image. Just don't try and tell me that only one look is beautiful".
She has also looked beyond her modelling career as she has worked for Aids awareness benefits, breast cancer research and has taken a place as a member of the US committee refugees' advisory council. Her experience as a refugee has helped her work earnestly to fight for the cause of refugees' world wide. She is also raising awareness on the humanitarian disaster in Sudan and other war torn countries and launched an aid program called doctors without borders to fight this cause.
She plans to live in Sudan again that basically will be after the war that has ravaged the country for more than a decade.
"It's a beautiful country with an amazing culture and history. It is so unfortunate that the civil war has robbed my people of their basic rights, their voices, the necessities of life and even life itself.
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