Black & Beautiful | Alek Wek

Alex Wek is a Sudanese fashion supermodel. She studied fashion technology and business at the prestigious London College of Fashion. She has a pure, striking ebony complexion and a short, boyish hairstyle, which many have argued has made her stand out from among her peers.

The African beauty's big break came in 1995 when she was discovered by a model agency scout while shopping in a London market. She signed to Models One, and it wasn't long before she appeared on the pages of cutting edge publications Vibe and i-D.

Wek was the first African model to appear on the cover of American Elle in 1997, proving that dark skin is beautiful. In Arogundade’s Black Beauty, he described it as “the single most significant cover in the history of magazines… breaking every rule of Western beauty values.” Wek is a black woman that looks unmistakably African. When Oprah Winfrey interviewed Wek on her television show in 2010, she said: "If you'd been on the cover of a magazine when I was growing up, I would have had a different concept of who I was.”

One of the hottest new faces on the scene, she was soon courted by top design houses for their runway shows. Her distinctive looks, so different from the usual catwalk fare, caused a stir in the world of fashion, and won various awards, including "Best New Model" at the Venus de la Mode Fashion Awards, 1997 MTV model of the year, and "Model of the Decade" from i-D. Alek's success has redefined the traditional understanding of beauty.

Alek Wek