Although their paths were far from smooth and easy, the success of legendary dark-skinned supermodels like Donyale Luna, Iman and Naomi Campbell undoubtedly paved the way for more black girls to pursue their dreams in the world of high fashion.
The fashion industry has been known to be discriminatory and even racist at times to black models. The mid to late 90s would witness the start of a measured change to wide-spread discrimination and the rise of a new wave of black African models, particularly in the persons of Alek Wek and Oluchi Onweagba-Orlandi.
Alek Wek and Oluchi’s arrival on the scenes in 1995 and 1998, respectively, was a welcomed development as the two didn’t necessarily fit into the modelling industry’s caucasian-based standard of beauty. Their hard-work and subsequent rise to the top paved the way for African models like Adut Akech, Duckie Thot and Mayowa Nicholas who are currently among the top models of this generation.
While the playing field is still not even for dark-skinned models, more brands have come to appreciate sub-Saharan beauty which has led to more job opportunities for African and black models in general.
From Nigeria to South Sudan and every country in between, a new generation of African models arrived on the global fashion scene as seen on the Fall 2020 runways and beyond and we’ve got our spotlight on them.
Here are 15 of the new African models to watch…
Ayobami Okekunle
Country: Nigeria
Mother Agency: Few Models
Nyarach Abouch Ayuel
Country: South Sudan
Mother Agency: Isis Models
Basil Ekang
Country: Nigeria
Mother Agency: Beth Model Management Africa
Nyagua Ruea
Country: South Sudan
Mother Agency: Beth Model Management Africa
Christie Munezero
Country: Rwanda
Mother Agency: Few Models
Abidemi Oguntuase
Country: Nigeria
Mother Agency: Isis Models
Tobi Momoh
Country: Nigeria
Mother Agency: Beth Model Management Africa
Olaniyan Olamijuwon
Country: Nigeria
Mother Agency: Beth Model Management Africa
Tolulope Soetan
Country: Nigeria
Mother Agency: Few Models
Awuoi Mach
Country: South Sudan
Mother Agency: Isis Models
Redcross Malang
Country: South Sudan
Mother Agency: Isis Models
Amal Tobi
Country: Nigeria
Mother Agency: Isis Models
Janet Jumbo
Country: Nigeria
Mother Agency: Raw Models
Chizoba Emmanuel
Country: Nigeria
Mother Agency: Raw Models
Abosede Ololade Ibrahim
Country: Nigeria
Mother Agency: Raw Models
Photo credit: Instagram | As captioned
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