FAH-SCHYON LAB ONE O ONE: I AM ALEK WEK

Friday, June 5, 2009

I AM ALEK WEK

Name: Alek Wek
D.O.B: 16th April 1977
Country: Sudan

Alek (which means Black Spotted Cow) Wek a native of the Dinka tribe, was born in Wau in Southern Sudan and first appeared on the catwalks at the age of 19 in 1995.

She was the 7th of 9 children born to the Wek family and although the exact date of her birth is unknown, her mother chose the 16th April because it is the rainy season and was the period in which Alek was born.

Her and her family fled to the UK in 1991 to escape the civil war which erupted between the Muslim north and the Christian south.

Alek was discovered at an outdoor market in Crystal Palace, South London in 1995 by a Models 1 scout and she went on to receive much attention when she appeared in the music video for “Golden Eye” by Tina Turner where she then catapulted into the fashion world as one of its top models.

She signed unto Ford Models in 1996, appeared in another music video “Got til it’s Gone” by Janet Jackson and was named the “Model of the year” in 1997 by MTV.

Alek has appeared on many catwalk shows and fashion weeks and has done adverts for Issey Miyake, Moschino, Victoria’s Secret, Clinique as well as a photographic shoot for Herb Ritts covered in Joanne Gair body painting.

She now counts the US as her main country of residence.