Adut Akech Bior

US Vogue January 2020

Vogue Values


Photographer: Stefan Ruiz, Nigel Shafran, Daniel Jackson, Sharon Lockhart
Stylist: Jorden Bickham, Camilla Nickerson, Tonne Goodman, Alex Harrington
Hair: Mustafa Yanaz, Simone Mason, Esther Langham, Tamas Tuzes,
Makeup: Romy Soleimani, Miranda Joyce, Petros Petrohilos, Francelle Daly
Cast: Ugbad Abdi, Indira Scott, Abby Champion, Marius Courcoul, NadjaAuermann, Sarah Batt, Tanya Katysheva, Eliza Douglas, Imaan Hammam, Adut Akech, Carolyn Murphy, Huynji Shin, Aheem Sosa, Paloma Elsesser, Selena Forrest, Olivia Vinten, Sara Grace Wallerstaedt, Vilma Sjoberg, Jill Kortleve, Ellen Rosa, Eniola Abioro, Cara Taylor



US Vogue Digital Edition
 
Vogue Australia’s January 2020



South Sudanese-Australian supermodel Adut Akech is using her profile to raise awareness on sustainability in fashion.

The 19-year-old – who fled to Adelaide from a United Nations camp in Kenya as a child – graces the cover of Vogue Australia’s January 2020 ‘Vogue Values’ issue.

Dressed in an off-white ruffled frock by Alexander McQueen, the activist tells the publication about finding her voice in the industry.

‘I want to use my platform’: South Sudanese-Australian supermodel Adut Akech, 19, raises awareness on sustainability in fashion, as she covers Vogue Australia’s January 2020 issue

‘I want to use my position and my platform to speak about things that are very important that need to be discussed, and things that need to change,’ she began.

‘Sustainability is definitely something very important that we all need to come together for, and sit down and see what changes we can make.’

‘For me, I can talk about it and try to bring awareness to it. I want to use my platform to educate,’ Adut continues.

Adut, who was named Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council in December, echoed the same sentiments in an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Saturday.

‘I’m happy with the path that I’m going down and being able to have that confidence and ability to deliver what I feel and what I want to say… and not care about what others think or what others are going to say about it,’ she said.

‘That is all I can really do, speak my truth and what I believe in. I feel like I’m finding my voice more and more, and it is just great.’

Using her voice: ‘For me, I can talk about it (sustainability in fashion) and try to bring awareness to it. I want to use my platform to educate,’ she tells the publication

For her Vogue Australia cover, Adut stuns in an off-white one-shoulder ruffle frock by Alexander McQueen.

She places both hands behind her back, tilts her head to one side, and beams broadly.

Adut appears to sport minimal makeup, allowing her natural beauty to shine through.

Vogue Australia’s January 2020 Vogue Values issue goes on sale December 30.

Raising awareness: Adut, who was named Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council in December (pictured), echoed the same sentiments in an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Saturday

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Vogue Australia feature:

“I grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya. My family fled from war in South Sudan and landed in Kakuma. That’s where I spent the first seven or eight years of my life, before I moved to Australia. We didn’t know what a magazine was and we didn’t know much about fashion. We didn’t have a lot of clothes. I grew up very, very far from fashion, and I only discovered the love that I have for fashion when I moved to Australia.

“When we first moved, I remember telling my mum: ‘I promise I’m going to finish school. I’m going to buy you a house. I’m going to buy you a car, and I’m going to make something out of myself’, and I’m someone who keeps promises. There’s nothing more important to me than making my mum proud, and education was one of the biggest reasons she took us to Australia, and to have the freedom to do anything we wanted to do.

“I’ve always grown up around a lot of family members, so family is very big to me, and my family is everything to me. They’re the reason why I get up every day and push myself and strive to do better, day by day. I want to be the best role model. I set the best example I can for my younger siblings to also teach them that nothing is given to you in life. Nothing is easy, but just work hard and never give up, and have determination and dedication. My mum deserves the world. She’s an incredible lady, a superwoman, raising six kids on her own as a single mum, and I think she’s done an amazing job.

“The December issue [of Vogue Australia in 2018] was by far my favourite cover and story I’ve ever done, because it’s so personal to me. It included my family and my relatives and everybody around me. It was the first time I got to show the world where I come from, my family, my background, just me – the real Adut, and nothing will ever top that.

“Every time I come [to Paris], I remember arriving here at 16, in 2016, to meet the Saint Laurent team, not knowing whether I was going to be confirmed to walk the show or not. But that was where it all started. I got confirmed and the minute I hit that runway, that was just: ‘This is it. There’s no going back; I just have to go forward from this point onwards.’ Now, I would say I’m just a little bit busier than I was when I was 16.

“I’m spending every other day on a plane. Life on the road for me right now is very busy. All over the place, travelling the world, getting to work with and meet some of the most amazing people, and I’m very, very grateful. I grew up around my family, and that’s all I knew. Moving away from them, even though it’s been two years since I moved out of home, it’s still hard. I miss them a lot, but I always remind myself why I’m doing what I’m doing, and it’s for my family. So that keeps me going.

“I’ve met so many amazing, talented people, from photographers to designers to people who I looked up to, growing up and wanting to model. Naomi Campbell, for example, she is now like a mum figure to me. I call her mother. She was the first family I had when I first moved to New York. And, I mean, she plays a very important role in my life. She’s a very big support in my career and just my life in general. I’ve met Edward [Enninful, British Vogue editor-in-chief], who I absolutely adore, and I call him my Papa. I feel like I am protected, and I’m safe when they’re around and I know that they have my back, no matter what.

“Karl Lagerfeld was someone else I met who was very special to me, and I miss him dearly. We just went on this journey together at Chanel. Pierpaolo [Piccioli, creative director of Valentino] is another who I absolutely have so much love and respect for. I respect him for what he does and his creativity and talent, but I love who he is as a person. We’ve been on this journey since I got off my exclusivity [walking only for Saint Laurent], and he’s had my back 100 per cent all the way. I’m the face of his new fragrance, Born In Roma. I’ve closed shows for him. I’ve gone to the Met Gala with him. We’ve just been on a really crazy, unexpected journey together. When I’m working with the Valentino team ... I feel very loved and welcome and wanted, and there’s no better feeling than that.

“When my agent told me about ‘Forces for Change’ [for British Vogue’s September 2019 issue, about women selected by the Duchess of Sussex for their contribution to progress in different spheres], they didn’t give me much information: I just went to the shoot. It was with Peter Lindbergh, who recently passed. That was my first time working with him, and I’m so honoured that I got to do that.

I didn’t know the Duchess of Sussex had anything to do with it until she called me. I got a call from an English number, and I thought: ‘Who could it be?’, because I have Edward’s number saved, and he’s the only person from England who would call me. I picked up, and it was Meghan. She was very sweet, very calm and said: ‘Hi, is this Adut?’ She told me that she was the guest editor for this issue and the reason she picked me – I was mind-blown. The Duchess of Sussex is on my phone telling me it was only right that she has me on that cover, that she finds me inspirational and finds my story and what I do standing up for refugees inspirational. There are so many incredible women all around the world, so the fact that she noticed me and listened to my story ... it blows my mind every time I think about it. For someone in such a position to notice me and to acknowledge me is special itself.

“I think diversity is so very important in the fashion industry, because I feel like everyone needs to be included. Everyone needs to be accepted for who they are, where they’ve come from, not be judged, and just be accepted. I feel like this is something that the industry has lacked for a while, but it’s improving more and more. It’s just important, because everybody needs to be included. I wanted to be a model, and at the time that I wanted to model, I didn’t see a lot of black girls. I never really thought I was going to get anywhere with it, because [of that]. Now there’s so many, and it makes me so proud and happy that I’m a part of this movement. If my little sister tells me she wants to model, I want her to just go for it and be accepted and wanted. If she has the potential, just like any other kid who was born in the Western world, then she should have that same opportunity.

“I want to use my position and my platform to speak about things that are very important that need to be discussed, and things that need to change. Sustainability is definitely something very important that we all need to come together for, and sit down and see what changes we can make. The [fashion] industry has played a role in some of the damage. It’s very important that this is happening and a lot of brands are starting to make little changes here and there. For me, I can talk about it and try to bring awareness to it. I want to use my platform to educate.

“If Vogue is talking about this regularly, I think that a lot of people are going to get on board with this and say: ‘Okay, you know what, if Vogue is constantly talking about this in every issue ...’ And I think that this is something that needs to happen and every Vogue needs to do this. I think the message will get across very quickly, and people will re-evaluate and see what changes they can make in their own personal life. For example, I have stopped using plastic bottles. I have, in my home in New York or wherever I am, a glass water bottle, and I have a metal water bottle, and I just use those. It can just be little changes like that, you know? I started learning more about sustainability through the industry and from hearing people like Stella McCartney talk. I admire her a lot for what she does. I’ve become more and more and more interested in hearing about why sustainability is so important. We’ve seen some of the effects of not having a sustainable industry.

“I finished school two years ago. I bought my mum a car for her birthday last year. I just bought her a house for her birthday this year, and I made something out of myself. I had a dream. I worked hard. I followed my dreams. I proved a lot of people wrong, and I’m here today. I would say that my life, right now, is at its best. The opportunities and everything I’ve achieved in the last three years, I didn’t see half of them coming my way. It’s crazy.”

Vogue Australia Digital Edition
 
Love that interview. She's such a star! Keep slaying, Adut - you're an inspiration to so many!
 
Fendi Feb 2020: Fendi S/S 2020 Campaign

 

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