LETTER FROM JUBA
“ Dreams count! To everyone in the world: never stop dreaming. » This is the message Majda John Peter, 17-year-old South Sudanese model, wrote on Instagram after winning the 39e edition of the Elite Model Look of the Year competition, the final of which took place on August 31 in Prague.
The first South Sudanese to win the very prestigious competition, the native of Bentiu, a region in northern South Sudan ravaged by civil war, thus made a dazzling entry into the fashion world with, in the wake of her victory, the first fashion shows at Paris fashion week, at the end of September, and a first magazine cover, that of the Vogue Czechoslovakia.
Its success confirms a trend: the attraction exercised in recent years by the beauty of South Sudanese models, within an industry long dominated by European aesthetic criteria. Smooth black skin, a slender figure, braided Afro hair revealing the elegance of her neck and head bearing: Majda John Peter’s beauty is that of many South Sudanese women.
Alek Wek, an English top model from Wau, South Sudan, was able to bring it to light in the mid-1990s. “ Famous model, she was black as night, she was on all the catwalks and in all the magazines and everyone was talking about her beauty”said Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o in 2014, to say how much this success had helped her, as a teenager, to get out of the “self-hatred”.
“Future Stars”
Since then, the type of beauty embodied by South Sudanese women has become highly prized by fashion designers and clothing brands. The number of models who are South Sudanese or of South Sudanese origin has exploded. Of the fifty models listed as “ future star » by the website Models.com, six are of South Sudanese origin. Just a passing trend or a profound change within an industry criticized for its lack of diversity?
In 2020, designer Stella McCartney claimed to see model Achenrin Madit “ the face of the future of fashion »discerning through it “ a rising generation that advocates inclusivity, diversity and sustainability in fashion. These are not trends, but meaningful ways to fix a broken industry, reconnecting us to each other and to Mother Earth.”.
Duckie Thot, Anok Yai, Ajok Madel, Akon Changkou… So many stars whose image has been populating magazines, advertising campaigns and social networks for several years. Without forgetting the “bomb” Adut Akech, 22, consecrated “ Model of the Year » in 2018 and 2019 by the British Council of Fashion. The one who spent her early years in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya before leaving for Australia collects the covers of prestigious fashion magazines. A year ago, she acquired a villa in Los Angeles for 2.8 million dollars.
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