Alek Wek
Alek Wek (born April 16, 1977 in Wau , Sudan ) is a photo model .
Childhood and youth
She was born in 1977 as the seventh of nine siblings in the southern Sudanese city of Wau and belongs to the Dinka people . When the civil war in South Sudan flared up again after 1983 and fighting broke out in Wau, her family fled to Great Britain via Khartoum . There she attended the London College of Fashion .
Career
She received a lot of attention in 1995 with Tina Turner's music video for Goldeneye and quickly found her way into the fashion world as a mannequin . In 1997, Alek Wek became the first African model to appear on the cover of Elle .
Alek Wek has had ad campaigns for brands like Issey Miyake , Moschino , Victoria's Secret and Clinique . She ran fashion shows for John Galliano , Donna Karan and Calvin Klein, among others . She appeared several times in the Pirelli calendar and shot television commercials a. a. for GAP Jeans. In 1997 she received three awards as a model: “Best New Model” from the Venus de la Mode Fashion Award, MTV ’s “Model of the Year” and “Model of the Decade” from iD magazine. In 2002 she played a supporting role in The Four Feathers and in 2018 also a supporting role in Luca Guadagnino's film Suspiria .
Alek Wek has lived in New York since 2003 , where, in addition to her modeling profession, she also works as a designer for bags with her own collections. Her bag collection Wek1933 is named after her late father and his year of birth.
Wek is a member of the US Committee on Refugees.
Fonts
2007 Alek weks book appeared nomad child (Original English edition: Alek - From Sudanese Refugee to International Supermodel ), in which she describes her escape from Sudan, her childhood in London and its beginnings as a model.
- Alek Wek: Nomad child - my escape from Sudan and my path to becoming a top model . Krüger, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-8105-2367-9 .
Web links
- Your profile in the Fashion Model Directory
- Alek Wek in the Internet Movie Database (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wek, Alek |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Sudanese model |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 16, 1977 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wau , Sudan |