I need to know who was the first African American Fashion designer to get famous meaning the first one to be known in the fashion industry.
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I need to know who was the first African American Fashion designer to get famous meaning the first one to be known in the fashion industry.
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:33 pm
alek wek a model first from africa the she moved to london and became respected for her fashion design and dabbled in acting and the cause for african women.here is her bioAlek Wek Bio..
Alek Wek, whose name means the black and white cow, was born in Sudan (Dinka tribe) on the 19th of April, 1977 and is one of the most famous African SuperModels in the world of fashion. Alek has a mother and 8 brothers and sisters. Alek and one of her sisters moved to London in 1991 due to the Civil War in Sudan, where she learnt English and began studies at the London College of Fashion.
Alek Wek was discovered by fashion agents in London in a shopping center in 1995 at the age of 18 and one year later she became involved seriously in fashion by being a model in the Ford Agency in Paris, which was followed by Milan in Italy and New York in the USA.
Wek has gained an astonishing success and has been awarded for her modeling achievements with Best New Model award, MTV Model in 1997, Model of the Decade Award, the Venus de la Mode Award in 1997 and by being ranked in such global fashion and beauty lists as People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” and “50 Most Influential Faces in Fashion”, and "World's greatest supermodel".
Wek has achieved fame as a model for being in such top fashion design shows as Calvin Klein, Victoria's Secret, Valentino, Fendi, Gucci, Vivienne Westwood, and Chanel. In 2002 Alek Wek was considered to be the most expensive top model in the world next to Carmen Kass, Heidi Klum, and Gisele Bundchen.
Alek Wek has been mostly involved in modeling, however she has done some acting, being in the movie "The Four Feathers", which was made in 2002. In addition, Wek is also fashion designer, launching her handbag line "Wek 1933" being inspired by African culture.