Akon Changkou

[Armani]

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[Armani]

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[Zorka]

Numéro #224 September 2021



HÉROÏNES COUTURE
Photographer: Jean-Baptiste Mondino
Stylist: Babeth Djian
Hair: Odile Gilbert
Make-Up: Tatsu Yamanaka
Models: June Cornelissens & Akon Changkou



numero.com

 

[Armani]

Zara

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[Armani]

Zara

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[Armani]

cont.

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[aracic]

UK Vogue October 2021

Adventures In Wonderland

Photography: Annie Leibovitz
Styling: Gabriella Karefa-Johnson
Hair: Nigella Miller
Makeup: Romy Soleimani
Models: Akon Changkou, Sherry Shi, Anok Yai











UK Vogue Digital Edition

 

[gedeon67]

Oscar de la Renta
SPRING 2022 READY-TO-WEAR
(official yt)

 

[Armani]

Zara

credit: zara

 

[Armani]

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credit: zara

 

[Armani]

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[Armani]

Zara

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[Armani]

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[guimon]

Gosh, the amount of Zara pictures...

 

[simplylovely]

Harper's Bazaar Australia/New Zealand December 2021
Rory van Millingen - Photographer
Takuya Uchiyama - Hair Stylist
Sandra Cooke - Makeup Artist

Louis Vuitton’s darling and Adelaide local, Akon Changkou, gets her first cover at home
In no time at all, Akon Changkou went from being a student in Adelaide to one of Nicolas Ghesquière’s favourite muses for Louis Vuitton. BAZAAR meets the self-starter taking the modelling world by storm.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY RORY VAN MILLINGEN; STYLED BY DIMITRI RIVIERE; WORDS BY PATTY HUNTINGTON

THERE ARE WORSE PLACES than Paris to spend lockdown. The City of Light is where psychology student-turned Australia’s latest modelling supernova Akon Changkou has found herself for the past year, navigating both COVID and a flourishing career. Although curiously unknown in this region — this cover shoot is her first local job — the 24-year-old South Sudanese Australian has become a go-to girl for one of the world’s biggest luxury brands, Louis Vuitton.

In October 2019, having never previously walked in any runway show, Changkou was booked as a worldwide exclusive for the brand’s spring 2020 show in Paris. She has walked in each of the five Louis Vuitton shows since, and was given the prestigious opening slot of the maison’s resort 2022 show, staged in June at Axe Majeure, a monumental landscape artwork located in Cergy-Pontoise, just outside Paris.

“It’s a little bit hard being away from home,” Changkou says down the line from London, “but it’s an amazing opportunity, and I’m really busy now, which is great because I like to be occupied.” Busy is right: she’s just finished two major brand campaigns in Europe and is spending a few days in the city before hopping on a plane to Spain for another job.

It’s a little bit HARD BEING AWAY from HOME…but it’s an AMAZING OPPORTUNITY

Changkou’s first advertising work also came via Louis Vuitton: the brand’s fall 2020 campaign. Shot by Louis Vuitton creative director Nicolas Ghesquière, it starred 20 of his friends and muses, including French actors Léa Seydoux, Marina Foïs, Noémie Merlant and Stacy Martin, British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, Congolese-Belgian singer Marie-Pierra Kakoma (aka Lou and the Yakuza) and South Korean model Sora Choi.

Changkou has also walked the runways of Chanel, Lanvin, Valentino, Salvatore Ferragamo, Versace, Fendi, Nina Ricci, Jacquemus and Giambattista Valli, among others, and shot multiple campaigns for Chanel Beauté. In February, she made the cover of Vogue Hong Kong, followed by the covers of Vogue Germany in March and Numéro France in September.

“It’s very special for Akon as an ascending global modelling star to be celebrated in Australia with her first cover shoot with Harper’s BAZAAR” says Alexis Elliott, co-founder, with Thomas Gillmann, of Sydney’s Merci Management, the first agency to represent Changkou in Australia. “I’m sure this recognition will only further fuel her rise.”


It’s VERY SPECIAL, for AKON…to be CELEBRATED in AUSTRALIA with her FIRST COVER SHOOT with HARPER’S BAZAAR



Born in South Sudan, Changkou is one of eight children in her family. They moved to Australia in 2007, when she was nine, following an uncle who had migrated here in the 1990s. Growing up in Adelaide, Changkou says she was often stopped by people asking if she had ever considered modelling, but at the time, she wanted to concentrate on her studies for a bachelor of psychological science at Adelaide University. Eventually, she decided to give modelling a try, and approached several agencies. She was turned down for not being as tall as most models.

Undeterred, Changkou persisted, and once she was signed, she was immediately dispatched to New York in September 2019, just in time for New York Fashion Week. Once there, Changkou met with several casting agents, including influential Louis Vuitton casting director Ashley Brokaw, who immediately sent her to Paris to meet with the brand. “It was surreal,” says Changkou of the exclusive with the maison. “I was like, This is really happening!? I remember calling my family to tell them like, ‘Oh, wow!’ I never really saw myself or considered myself to ever model.”

“Height is not an indicator of success — modelling and runway are not just driven by that anymore,” says Elliott. “It’s more influenced by the ease with which someone can carry the clothes, the body proportions, the confidence. Akon’s globally recognised look reflects modern beauty.”

In her downtime in Paris, Changkou roamed the empty streets, marvelling at the city’s romantic architecture. As soon as she could, she came home to Australia before the borders closed, and once Paris’ lockdown lifted, she travelled back to start working again. “I see the changing diversity, and I’m super happy,” says Changkou of the extraordinary wave of South Sudanese models who have emerged in fashion in recent years from Australia, the US and Britain. “I just want more of us to be out here. I feel like a lot of us girls are inspiring so many Sudanese girls, or in general, people of colour, to do the same.”

I SEE the CHANGING DIVERSITY, and I’m SUPER HAPPY


Her psychology studies, although interrupted, provided her with some key resilience training, she says, which may come in handy in an industry known for its churn-and-burn of talent. “I think human behaviour is fascinating, and it’s amazing now because, with the two years that I did, I remember a lot of things that I can apply within modelling now,” she says. “I learnt a lot about depression, anxiety — I’m pretty knowledgeable on a lot of the mental illnesses.”


I think HUMAN BEHAVIOUR is FASCINATING, and its AMAZING now because, with the TWO YEARS that I did, I REMEMBER a LOT of things that I can APPLY within MODELLING now



At the beginning of her modelling journey, Changkou promised her concerned mother, Atong, that if things didn’t work out for her within a year, she would return to her studies. Her mum — with whom she hopes to reunite in Melbourne at Christmas, with the whole family — is thrilled with her success.

“My mum is very excited — I send her photos all the time. She has no idea about half the brands,” says Changkou, who is happy to “ride it out” for the moment and see where this road takes her. “I feel like right now is my peak, and I should take full advantage of it,” she adds. “But I do possibly want to go back to school. Modelling was never a dream, but I’m super grateful, and I’m taking advantage of what happens and what’s potentially going to be.”



Akon Changkou is represented by Elite and Merci Management. Hair by Takuya Uchiyama; Makeup by Sandra Cooke; Production by Mai Production

harpersbazaar.com.au




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[simplylovely]

Louis Vuitton Cruise 2022
Nicolas Ghesquière - Designer
Carlijn Jacobs - Photographer
Marie-Amélie Sauvé - Fashion Editor/Stylist
Laurent Philippon - Hair Stylist
Ashley Brokaw - Casting Director






louisvuitton via instagram​

 

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[simplylovely]

Louis Vuitton S/S 2022





vogue​

 

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Chanel Pre-Fall 2022 Metiers D'Art Show
(vogue.com)

 

[gedeon67]

Louis Vuitton Holiday 2021
Nuages
Nadine Ijewere - Photographer
Elodie David Touboul - Fashion Editor/Stylist
Eugene Souleiman - Hair Stylist
Hiromi Ueda - Makeup Artist
Jabez Bartlett - Set Designer
(louisvuitton.com)