Skin Like Africa - South Sudan's Anok Yai on Global Fashion Runways

From the moment her photograph went viral, the world took notice. Since that moment, Anok Yai has not stopped, and the modelling industry has barely caught its breath. She has walked for every major fashion house like Chanel, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Balmain, Givenchy, Tom Ford, and more. But what makes her unique isn’t just her résumé; rather it’s her ability to carry every garment like it was made for her and her alone. Designers trust her to embody their vision, not as a canvas, but as a collaborator. But it’s not just the runways. In 2018, she became a global spokesperson and ambassador for Estée Lauder, one of the most iconic names in beauty, and notably, another Black woman to front the brand after the likes of Liya Kebede. Her face, once rare in beauty aisles, became unavoidable on billboards, in commercials, in glossy campaigns across continents. In 2023, she was ranked among Models.com’s Top 50 Models in the World and featured prominently in its annual Industry Icons list which is considered to be a coveted position reserved for the best of the best. In the same year, Anok walked the Met Gala red carpet in Prabal Gurung, cementing her status as both a high fashion muse and a red carpet authority. Her look was among the most talked-

They say beauty is subjective, but when Anok Yai steps onto a runway, the world forgets its biases. Anok’s origin story is proof that greatness is never where you expect it, it’s where you plant it. Born on December 20, 1997 to South Sudanese parents in Egypt, she was just two years old when her family relocated to the U.S. as refugees. She grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire, a quiet, unlikely backdrop for someone who would become one of the most sought-after faces in the modelling industry. It all changed in 2017, when a photographer captured her at Howard University’s homecoming. The image, shared online, quickly went viral across social media. There was something “otherworldly” about her but also something rooted, and everyone was eager to know who she was. Soon after, she signed with Next Management and exploded onto the scene. In 2018, barely a year after her discovery, she made history by becoming the second Black model ever to open a Prada show, following in the footsteps of Naomi Campbell nearly two decades earlier. That moment wasn’t just symbolic; it was seismic. It reintroduced the fashion world to the possibilities of represen-