Ajak Deng

The first black model to walk for Chloé since Liya Kebede, the Sudanese Ajak Deng has been defying the fashion world's overcautiousness with respect to ebony beauty for over 4 seasons.

That Deng's destiny is unusual is the least that can be said. Ajak (short for her full name, Angélique) was born in December 1989 into a country torn by interminable genocidal conflicts. Her family was obliged to emigrate to Kenyan refuge camp 12 years later due to the increasingly dangerous Sudanese civil war.

But that was not all. Several months after their arrival, Deng's mother died of malaria, leaving her to take care of 7 children, the youngest being only 6 months old.

After 4 particularly difficult years, things seemed to start to improve in 2005, when Deng succeeded in moving to Australia with her brothers and sisters. She managed to continue her education while taking care of her family; but her dream was to follow in the footsteps of her idol, the Sudanese fashion model Alek Wek.

At 16, she tried her chances at all the modeling competitions in Australia, including Miss South Sudan Australia, where she caught the eye of the talent scouts.

Unfortunately for the svelte Deng, luck was still not completely hers. Between a corrupt agent who constantly swindled her, and the numerous refusals that she collected (in Australia, the overwhelming majority of the casting directors declared that they do not work with black models), Deng had to fight to make her place in the modeling world.

Preferring to concentrate on her goal, she quickly decided to ignore the sometimes-borderline behavior of the different players in the Australian fashion world, i.e., the backstage photographers who during the Melbourne fashion week only wanted to shoot the white models.

Her patience paid off. In 2009, she attained the Holy Grail when she became a part of the New York agency, IMG. In the fashion world, things were slowly evolving, and the casting directors were beginning to receive orders to enlarge their vision of beauty.

In September 2009, Deng walked for several New York designers before posing for a Benetton campaign. It was only in March 2010, however, that she really began to cause sparks when she appeared on some of the most visible catwalks, from Lanvin to Givenchy to Jean Paul Gaultier to Chloé.

Continuing her climb, she posed in May for Interview, then walked for Lanvin and Louis Vuitton during the last fashion weeks. Gaining in self-confidence, she refined her look by bleaching her hair platinum blond.

Today, Deng's career is beginning to resemble that of a young promising model's. However, life remains different for this former Sudanese refuge. It is out of the question for her, once her pay is n the bank, to follow her work colleagues on their shopping sprees. Her priority remains the education and well being of her numerous brothers and sisters for whom she is still in charge.

This being said, Deng may soon no longer be the only one to take care of their needs - her younger sister, Zahara, now 18, has taken her first steps into the world of modeling.