Wearing a simple yet elegant outfit, her hair in flowing braids and face glowing without makeup, Arop Akol could easily be mistaken for a typical off-duty model. Relaxing on a sofa at the London offices of her agency, First Model Management, she shares her journey into a modeling career that’s quickly gaining international attention.
“I had been watching modelling online since I was a child at the age of 11,” says Akol, now in her early twenties.
In just a few years, she has walked the runways of fashion powerhouses in London and Paris. Notably, she shared the stage with Naomi Campbell at an Off-White show, streamed across the globe. Despite the excitement, the constant travel can be isolating. Still, Akol often crosses paths with fellow models from her homeland—South Sudan.
“South Sudanese people have become very well known for their beauty,” says Akol. Her tall frame, high cheekbones, and rich, dark complexion exemplify the traits that are earning South Sudanese models global recognition.
Indeed, turn the pages of any fashion magazine or watch major runway shows, and Akol’s observation rings true. Models with South Sudanese roots—from newcomers like her to global icons such as Anok Yai, Adut Akech, and Alek Wek—are increasingly prominent.
Alek Wek, who was discovered in a London car park in 1995, paved the way as one of the first South Sudanese models to gain international fame. She has graced numerous Vogue covers and walked for luxury labels like Dior and Louis Vuitton.
Today, their presence is stronger than ever. On the latest “Top 50 Future Stars” list from the influential fashion site Models.com, one in five models has South Sudanese heritage. Similarly, Vogue spotlighted four South Sudanese models in a feature titled “11 Young Models Set to Storm the Catwalks in 2025.”
“The expectation of what a model should be—most of the South Sudanese models have it,” explains Dawson Deng, co-founder of South Sudan Fashion Week in the capital, Juba, alongside former model Trisha Nyachak.
“They have the perfect, dark skin. They have the melanin. They have the height.”
Lucia Janosova, a casting agent at First Model Management, agrees. “Of course they are beautiful… beautiful skin, the height,” she says. However, she admits there’s no definitive answer to why South Sudanese models are favored over others from places like Nigeria or Mozambique.
Model Akur Goi, who has walked for elite fashion houses such as Givenchy and Armani, believes it goes beyond appearance. She thinks their “resilience” plays a key role.
Born in Juba, Goi fled with her family to Uganda during her childhood, part of a large migration following South Sudan’s independence from Sudan in 2011. That moment of national pride was quickly overshadowed by a devastating civil war two years later, which killed 400,000 people and displaced 2.5 million.
Though the civil war officially ended after five years, ongoing violence, flooding, and poverty continue to drive people away from their homeland. Most recently, renewed clashes between government and opposition forces have raised fears of another large-scale conflict.
Goi, who left war-torn South Sudan for a refugee life in Uganda, held onto one dream—to become a model. That dream came true last year when she was discovered by agents through Facebook. Her debut job was walking for Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli.
“I was super excited and ready for my first season… I was really nervous and scared but I said to myself: ‘I can make it’—because it was a dream,” she recalls, speaking from Milan, where she had just flown for another modeling gig.
Yet not every journey is smooth. A Times investigation uncovered troubling stories of refugee models from Kenya being flown to Europe only to be deemed too malnourished to walk the runway. Others have reportedly been left in debt after agencies charged them for visa fees, travel costs, and other expenses—often only disclosed after the work is done.
Akol herself faced a similar experience early on. In 2019, when she was first scouted, she was asked to pay various unexpected fees.
“I was asked for money for registration, money for this, for that. I couldn’t manage all that. I’m struggling, my family is struggling,” she says. It wasn’t until three years later, while living in Uganda, that she found a more legitimate agency that launched her career.
Deng, who mentors aspiring models and helps them create professional portfolios, says exploitation isn’t uncommon. Some models, he notes, have been paid in clothing rather than money. Others face resistance from their own families.
Akol’s family, for example, was never supportive. “They didn’t want it and they don’t want it now,” she says. But she and others have stood firm, arguing that as citizens of a young nation, they deserve opportunities on par with the rest of the world.
Deng believes this cultural resistance is slowly changing, especially in urban areas. Still, some traditional families compare modeling to prostitution. Many parents struggle to understand why their daughters would be “walking in front of people,” he explains.
He remembers helping a young woman preparing for her first international job. Her family, opposed to her modeling aspirations, followed her to the airport and stopped her from boarding the plane. Thankfully, they later came around. She has since modeled for a major lingerie brand and become the main provider for her family.
“This girl is actually the breadwinner of the family. She’s taking all her siblings to school and nobody talks about it as a bad thing anymore,” Deng says with pride.
The achievements of South Sudanese models are a source of national pride, and despite shifting trends in fashion, Deng believes their success will continue.
Goi agrees. She notes that fashion is increasingly embracing diversity, and South Sudanese models are helping to define that trend.
Akol also sees longevity in their influence. “Alek Wek has been doing it before I was born and she is still doing it now,” she says.
“South Sudanese models are going to go a long way.”
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