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New York Magazine

Alek Wek

    New York

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    Alek Wek View off-the-runway photos
    Nationality
    Sudanese
    Birth Date
    April 16, 1977
    Lives Now
    New York, NY
    Status
    Supermodel
    Known for
    Charity work, Hair, Legs
    Agencies
    IMG, Storm
    Friends
    Edmundo Castillo, Natalia Vodianova, Iman, Tyson Beckford, Jade Parfitt, Tasha Tilberg, Michelle Alves, Mimi Roche
    Model Turned
    Activist (Refugees Advisory Council), Actress (Four Feathers, 2002), Writer (autobiography “Alek”, August 2007)
    Interests
    Music

    Off the Runway Photos

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    On the Runway Photos

    • Alek Wek
    • Alek Wek
    • Alek Wek

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    Alek Wek's Career Highlights

    16 APR, 1977
    Born in Wau, Sudan
    1991
    Moves to England with her family to escape the civil war between the Sudan’s Muslim north and Christian south
    1991
    Wek’s father is killed, leaving her mother and nine children
    1995
    Discovered by a Model 1 scout Fiona Ellis at a party
    1995
    Appears in the music video for Tina Turner’s GoldenEye
    1996
    Signed to Ford Models
    1996
    Appears in the video for Janet Jackson’s Got ’Til It’s Gone
    1997
    Named Model of the Year by MTV
    1997
    Named Model of the Decade by i-D
    FEB 1997
    Debuts on the runways for Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Ralph Lauren in Paris and New York
    FEB 1997
    Walks during fall Fashion Week for names like Chanel, Dries Van Noten, Lagerfeld, and Vivienne Westwood in Paris
    NOV 1997
    Appears on the cover of Elle
    APR 1998
    Appears on the cover of i-D
    1999
    Featured in the Pirelli calendar
    1999
    Named one of People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People
    OCT 1999
    Appears on the cover of German Vogue
    FEB 2000
    Closes the Yves Saint Laurent fall show in Paris
    JUL 2000
    Appears on the cover of i-D
    SEP 2000
    Appears on the cover of Essence
    JAN 2001
    Opens the Valentino spring couture show in Paris
    JAN 2001
    Opens the Christian Lacroix spring couture show in Paris
    JAN 2001
    Opens the Yves Saint Laurent spring couture show in Paris
    MAR 2001
    Closes the John Galliano fall show in Paris
    SEP 2001
    Closes the Oscar de la Renta spring show in New York
    OCT 2001
    Closes the Jean Paul Gaultier spring show in Paris
    2002
    Plays Sudanese princess Aquol in the film The Four Feathers
    2002
    Campaign for the Gap
    JAN 2002
    Appears on the cover of British Vogue
    JAN 2002
    Opens the Christian Lacroix spring couture show in Paris
    JUL 2002
    Opens the Christian Lacroix fall couture show in Paris
    JAN 2003
    Opens and closes the Christian Lacroix spring couture show in Paris
    JAN 2003
    Opens the Ralph Rucci Chado spring couture show in Paris
    JUN 2004
    Appears on the cover of Cosmopolitan
    SEP 2004
    Opens the Fendi spring show in Milan
    2005
    Launches wek1933, a line of handbags named for the year of her father’s birth
    2006
    Print ads for Jones New York
    FEB 2006
    Feature in Vogue about her choices in denim and her overall style
    NOV 2006
    Nominated for Britain’s Model of the Year award alongside Erin O’Connor and Kate Moss (the latter won)
    FEB 2007
    Closes the Diane Von Furstenberg show in New York
    AUG 2007
    Releases an autobiography, Alek, in which she admits that some of her modeling work has had racist undertones
    8 SEP, 2007
    Named Vogue's third best dressed of the week in a short Diane von Fustenburg dress Photo»
    SEP 2007
    Appears on the cover of Ebony with Iman, Tyra Banks, and Kimora Lee
    JAN 2008
    Walks the spring Christian Dior couture show in Paris
    FEB 2008
    Walks the fall Diane von Furstenberg show in New York
    MAY 2008
    Walks the resort Christian Dior show in New York
    JUL 2008
    Featured in the all-black Italian Vogue issue, photographed by Steven Meisel
    SEP 2008
    Closes the spring Aquascutum and Jasper Conran shows in London
    FEB 2009
    Closes the fall Aquascutum show in London
    JUN 2009
    Appears in i-D editorial, photographed by Amy Troost
    JUL 2009
    Appears in Japanese Vogue editorial, photographed by Josh Olins
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