Alek Wek

{{Infobox model

| name = Alek Wek

| image = Alek Wek, Red Dress Collection 2007.jpg

| caption = Wek at the Red Collection 2007 for The Heart Truth campaign

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1977|4|16|df=y}}

| birth_place = Wau, Sudan
(now South Sudan)

| height = {{height|ft=5|in=11}}

| haircolour = Dark brown

| eyecolour = Brown

| website =

| partner = Riccardo Sala (2001-2013)

| occupation = Model

| years_active = 1995–present

| agency = {{Plainlist|

IMG Models (New York, Paris, Los Angeles, Sydney)
d'management group (Milan)
Storm Management (London)
Mega Model Agency (Hamburg)}}

}}

Alek Wek (born 16 April 1977) is a South Sudanese-British model and designer who began her fashion career at the age of 18 in 1995. 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,{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1997-01-09-1997009071-story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708030959/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1997-01-09/features/1997009071_1_alek-wek-concept-of-beauty-herb-ritts |url-status=live |archive-date=8 July 2012 |title=Refugee from Sudan takes runways by storm |publisher=Articles.baltimoresun.com |date=9 January 1997 |access-date=21 January 2014}} but fled to Britain in 1991 to escape the civil war in Sudan.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/01/2007_45_thu.shtml |title=BBC – Radio 4 Woman's Hour -Alek Wek |publisher=bbc.co.uk |access-date=23 February 2009}} In 2015, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-34745739|title=BBC 100 Women 2015: Who is on the list?|date=17 November 2015|work=BBC News|access-date=17 August 2019|language=en-GB}}

Early life

Alek was born April 16, 1977, 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.{{Cite news |date=2021-09-01 |title=Designs for living – Alek Wek takes fashion to the max |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/28286b74-4ad8-4a7f-82e7-a6d0048f5cb6 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/28286b74-4ad8-4a7f-82e7-a6d0048f5cb6 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=2022-08-12}} Her mother Akuol (b. 1946) was a housewife, and her father Athian (1933–1985) was an education official. Her name reportedly means "Black Spotted Cow".{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200708/20070830_wek.html |title=Tavis Smiley . Archives . Alek Wek . August 30, 2007 |publisher=PBS |access-date=23 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201023832/http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200708/20070830_wek.html |archive-date=1 December 2008 }}

When the civil war broke out in Wau in 1985, 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. 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.{{Cite web |date=2020-10-20 |title=Alek Wek on the Moments That Defined Her Trailblazing Career in Modeling |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/alek-wek-fashion-chanel-haute-couture-mcqueen-tina-turner |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}}

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.{{Cite web |last=Refugees |first=United Nations High Commissioner for |title=South Sudanese supermodel Alek Wek appointed UNHCR National Goodwill Ambassador |url=https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2013/6/51c010bf9/south-sudanese-supermodel-alek-wek-appointed-unhcr-national-goodwill-ambassador.html |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=UNHCR |language=en}}

Alek was discovered at an outdoor market in 1995 in Crystal Palace, London 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 1996 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 1997 by MTV,{{cite web|url=https://nymag.com/fashion/models/awek/alekwek/|title=Alek Wek – Fashion Model – Profile|access-date=18 February 2020|archive-date=23 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423005013/https://nymag.com/fashion/models/awek/alekwek/|url-status=dead}} and was the first African model to appear on the cover of Elle that year.{{cite web|url= http://fashionbombdaily.com/2009/02/02/fun-black-fashion-fact-alek-wek-on-november-1997-elle-magazine/|title= Fun Black Fashion Fact: Alek Wek on November 1997 Elle Magazine|access-date= 3 August 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120531160700/http://fashionbombdaily.com/2009/02/02/fun-black-fashion-fact-alek-wek-on-november-1997-elle-magazine/|archive-date= 31 May 2012|url-status= dead}}

=Modelling=

Alek has modelled for many notable fashion houses. 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 2002 she made her acting debut in The Four Feathers as Sudanese princess Aquol.{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/review/2002/09/20/four_feathers/index1.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908091314/http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/review/2002/09/20/four_feathers/index1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 September 2012 |title=The Four Feathers |work=Salon.com |access-date=21 January 2014 }} Herb Ritts photographed her for a 1999 calendar in a Joanne Gair body painting that was a highlight of Gair's first retrospective.{{cite web |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=232691 |title=Joanne Gair's designs on celebrities |author=Herrick, Linda |date=10 December 2001 |work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=16 September 2011}}

In September 2015, Alek walked for Marc Jacobs at Spring/Summer 2016 New York Fashion Week, later appearing in the label's Spring Summer 2016 campaign. In May 2016, she modelled for four special edition covers of Brazilian Elle.{{cite web|url=http://www.vogue.com/13339302/marc-jacobs-new-york-fashion-week-spring-2016-models/|title=Marc Jacobs Had the Most Exciting Cast at New York Fashion Week|publisher=Vogue.com|date=17 September 2015|access-date=9 October 2015|archive-date=12 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151012001633/http://www.vogue.com/13339302/marc-jacobs-new-york-fashion-week-spring-2016-models/|url-status=dead}}

=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."{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/faraigundan/2013/12/31/supermodel-alek-wek-on-the-business-of-fashion-being-the-face-of-refugees-and-life-after-the-runway/|title=Supermodel Alek Wek on the Business of Fashion, Being The Face of Refugees And Life After The Runway|first=Farai|last=Gundan|website=Forbes }} In a speech on beauty and self-perception,{{cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPCkfARH2eE|title=Lupita Nyong'o Speech on Black Beauty Essence Black Women|website=YouTube |date=March 2014 }} 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".{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/lupita-nyong-moving-speech-essence-event-article-1.1706333|title=Lupita Nyong'o: 'There is no shame in black beauty'|website=New York Daily News |date=28 February 2014 }}

=Designing=

Alek also designs a range of designer handbags called "Wek 1933", which are available throughout selected Selfridges department stores. The name refers to the year her father was born.{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1365/is_2_37/ai_n26981440 |title=Couture carryall: fashion model Alek Wek designs luxury handbags |via=Find Articles|access-date=23 February 2009 |last=Campbell |first=Denise | year=2006 }} Her inspiration for the designs came from the brass-clasp briefcase carried by her father.{{cite web|url=http://www.stevedow.com.au/Default.aspx?id=319 |title=Steve Dow, journalist |publisher=Stevedow.com.au |date=25 January 2013 |access-date=21 January 2014}}

Campaigning

Since 2002, Alek has been an advisor to the U.S. Committee for Refugees Advisory Council,{{cite web|url=http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/alekwek/ |title=Alek Wek profile: news, photos, style, videos and more – HELLO! Online |publisher=Hellomagazine.com |date=31 December 2000 |access-date=21 January 2014}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.askmen.com/celebs/women/model/alek-wek/index.html |title=Alek Wek |publisher=AskMen |access-date=21 January 2014}}

In 2007, 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.[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article788203.ece Alek: From Sudanese Refugee to International Supermodel] {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

In 2011, she appeared as a guest judge in the sixteenth cycle of America's Next Top Model.

In July 2012, 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.{{cite web|url=http://bluekeyblog.org/blue-key/alex-weks-journey-home |title=Alek Wek's Journey Home |publisher=Bluekeyblog.org |date=3 July 2012 |access-date=21 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203020308/http://bluekeyblog.org/blue-key/alex-weks-journey-home |archive-date=3 February 2014}} In 2012, Alek teamed up with Amarula as the face of their campaign African Originals.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Personal life

As of 2009, Wek resided in Brooklyn, New York.{{cite web|url=http://www.models.com/models/alek-wek|title= Alek Wek – Model Profile|work=Models.com|access-date=4 November 2018}} She was in a relationship with Riccardo Sala, an Italian real estate developer, for twelve years; they separated in 2013.{{Cite web |url=https://www.marieclaire.co.za/celebrity/alek-wek-much-pretty-face |title=Alek Wek; Much More Than a Pretty Face |access-date=23 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424072033/https://www.marieclaire.co.za/celebrity/alek-wek-much-pretty-face |archive-date=24 April 2018 |url-status=dead }} She is the aunt of the runway model Ataui Deng.

{{cite web |url=https://nymag.com/thecut/2008/10/meet_the_new_girl_ataui_deng.html |title=Meet The New Girl |date=22 October 2008 |publisher=nymag.com |access-date=18 August 2014}}

Filmography

class="wikitable"
+Music Videos ! Year !! Title !! Role	Note
1995	GoldenEye	Herself	{{cite web\|url=https://www.allmyfriendsaremodels.com/model-millionaires-alek-wek/\| title=Model Millionaires: Alek Wek\| website=www.allmyfriendsaremodels.com\|first=Calynn M.\|last=Lawrence\|date=12 April 2016\|access-date=}}
1997	Got 'Til It's Gone	Herself

class="wikitable"
+Television ! Year !! Title{{cite web\|title=Filmography by TV series for Alek Wek\|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1082687/\|work=Internet Movie Database\|access-date=4 May 2015}}!! Role	Notes
2011	America's Next Top Model	Herself	Guest Judge
2011	Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model	Herself	Guest Judge

class="wikitable"
+Film ! Year !! Title !! Role	Note
2002	The Four Feathers	Aquol	Film Debut
2018	Suspiria	Miss Millius	{{cite web\|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/08/suspiria-trailer-tilda-swinton-dakota-johnson\|title=Don't Watch the Suspiria Trailer If You Want to Sleep Tonight\|website=Vanity Fair\|first=Yohanna\|last=Desta\|date=23 August 2018\|access-date=2 September 2018}}