BLACK PEARL

REFUGEE | SUPERMODEL | ACTIVIST

Alek Wek has been saluted for her invaluable influence on the perception of beauty. She has never been interested in industry standards and refused to have her skin lightened or to have her now-famous gap-toothed smile Photoshopped. Alek will not agree to have her general appearance altered in any way. As a result, her exotic, ethnic appearance took her to the peak of a demanding profession. It challenged every traditional definition of a model, and her success gave a world of women a broader, better concept of beauty.

In London, after fleeing her homeland as a refugee during the Sudanese Civil War, Alek was spotted by a model agency scout who was smitten by her unconventional beauty. Nearly six feet tall and ebony black, Alek was nothing anyone had seen on the catwalk before.

Bookings soon filled her schedule. Requests to star in music videos and movies came fast as did offers to grace catwalks and be featured on magazine covers and in the international marketing campaigns of top design houses.

Hers was a groundbreaking attitude and honors all women previously excluded from the traditional definition of good looks. Alek’s influence extends far beyond the beauty industry. She travels across the globe using her voice, her platform and her story to advocate for refugees and to support the life-saving work. That sort of beauty is incalculable. In fact, it has changed the world.