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When American Elle chose Alek Wek for the cover of their November 1997 issues, they were taking a considerable risk.
Conventional wisdom stated that featuring a dark-skinned African girl on the cover of a major American fashion publication would not sell issues.
The result, however, was quite the contrary.
Who could have predicted the monumental reader response from women and men of all ages?
Each and every one was ecstatic about seeing the standards of American beauty being expanded and redefined.
As Oprah Winfrey commented when Alek appeared on her show, “If you’d been on the cover of a magazine when I was growing up, I would have had a different concept of who I was.” Born in Southern Sudan, Alek was raised as part of the Dinka tribe.
At fourteen the civil forced her to flee to London with her younger sister, where they waited two years to be joined by their mother and three more of their eight siblings.
It was in London, while attending school for art and design, that Alek was discovered.

Alek Wek1933 LTD.

Store Buyers Please email

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W.E.K.
Working to Educate Kids
A Non-Profit Organization founded by Alek W.E.K.

Dear Friends, my father worked on the board of education.
I was therefore raised in a home that believed in and supported education.
I was fortunate - many children did not live in such an empowering environment, especially in my homeland of Sudan.
I have seen children beg for books and pens, the simple education tools that are taken for granted.
It is for these children and American counterparts - the youth of inner-city schools - that I am starting my non-profit organization, W.E.K. ( Working to Educate Kids ).
W.E.K. will focus on underprivileged youth and young-adults in Sudan and New York City.
The foundation will contribute funds, supplies and one on one support to existing programs in both regions.
W.E.K.’s mission is to provide the disadvantaged youth of these areas with classroom tools, sporting and educational programs, devices that promote the arts as well as an essential understanding of the international community in which they reside.
I am asking my fellow global inhabitants to contribute their time and support on behalf of the children.
Let us not forget that we were all children at some point in our lives. Children need to be encouraged and inspired to realize their full potential.
By lending your voice and your support you can transform the course of a child’s life.
W.E.K. will make its official launch in Summer 2006.
I ask that you please supportthe foundation in its endeavors.

Greatfully yours,
Alek W.E.K.

Alek Wek (born April 16, 1977) is a Sudanese supermodel who appeared on the catwalks at the age of 18 in 1995. She is from the Dinka ethnic group in the Sudan, but in 1991 her family fled to Britain to escape the civil war between the Muslim North and the Christian South of the Sudan.

She was born the seventh of nine children in Wau in Southern Sudan in 1977. The exact date is unknown. When she was preparing to emigrate from Sudan, her mother picked the date April 16, which occurs in the rainy season during which she was born. She says her name means “Black Spotted Cow”.

Alek was discovered at an outdoor market in London in 1995 in Crystal Palace, south London, by a Models 1 scout. She first got attention with the help of the music video for GoldenEye by Tina Turner, in 1995 and from there made it into the world of fashion as one of its top models. She was signed to Ford Models in 1996 and was also seen in the “Got ‘Til It’s Gone” music video by Janet Jackson that year. She was named “Model of the Year” in 1997 by MTV.

Amongst other things she has done ads for Issey Miyake, Moschino, Victoria’s Secret and make-up company Clinique as well as walked the runway for high-profile fashion designers John Galliano, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein and Ermanno Scervino. In 2002 she made her acting debut in The Four Feathers as Sudanese princess Aquol.

She also designs a range of designer handbags called “Wek 1933″, which are available throughout selected Selfridges department stores. The year refers to the year her father was born.

She is a member of the U.S. Committee for Refugees’ Advisory Council, and is helping to raise awareness about the situation in Sudan, as well as the plight of refugees worldwide.

In 2007, she released an autobiograpy entitled Alek, documenting her journey from a childhood of poverty in Sudan to the catwalks of Europe.

See also

• John Galliano’s Spring-Summer 2004 Haute Couture collection

External links

• Alek Wek in the Fashion Model Directory

fount: wikipedia