Name: Liya Kebede
Country: Ethiopian
Her Impact: Liya Kebede got her big break when she signed an exclusive contract for the Gucci Fall/Winter 2000 fashion show. Another marked career achievement for the elegant Ethiopian beauty was gracing the cover of Paris Vogue and having the entire issue dedicated to her.
She has appeared on the covers of Italian, Japanese, American, French and Spanish Vogue and has been featured in ad campaigns for a host of designers and cosmetics brands including Yves Saint-Laurent, Victoria’s Secret, Revlon, Dolce & Gabbana, Escada and Louis Vuitton. In 2003, she was became the first Ethiopian spokesmodel for Estée Lauder cosmetics.
In 2005, she was appointed as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.
Name: Alek Wek
Country: Sudanese
Her Impact: Alek Wek has modeled runway and/or print campaigns for major fashion and cosmetics brands such as Issey Miyake, Moschino, Victoria’s Secret, Clinique, Chanel, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Armani, Fendi and Christian Dior. She has also made the covers of Elle magazine, i-D Magazine, Canadian, German and Japanese Vogue, Cosmopolitan magazine, Glamour magazine, Forbes Magazine Africa, and Ebony magazine.
Alek’s beautiful African features and deep midnight skin flew in the face of the conventional European beauty standard that continues to dominate the fashion industry as a whole. When she was discovered in London in 1995, Black women with features that are the literal antithesis to white standards were rarely used in fashion, if at all. Alek changed the rules in how the world perceives beauty.
