The name South Sudan is often associated with poverty, war and misery. But it can also stand for the highest level of stardom, as when top model Awar Odhiang went viral worldwide after an acclaimed appearance for Chanel at Paris Fashion Week last fall.
Awar Odhiang has had an unlikely career journey, from being born in a refugee camp in Ethiopia to growing up as an outsider and being bullied in Canada, and then to the glamour of the global fashion elite. And back home in South Sudan, many dream of doing something similar.
Dominating the fashion capitals
The odds may not be good, but they are relatively favorable. Fashion models from this part of Africa are very popular. On major industry site Models.com, nine of the names on its global Top 50 list are South Sudanese, the news agency AFP writes.
Paris, Milan, London... The fashion industry is dominated by men and women from South Sudan right now, Doris Sukeji, who founded the modeling agency Jubalicious in the capital Juba, tells the news agency.
She has a blunt explanation.
A lot of it is about skin color. That's how many South Sudanese get their contracts. They're looking for very dark models.
Teenager in London
The modeling wave can be said to have started with the now 48-year-old Alek Wek. She was also a war refugee, from Wau in what is now South Sudan, and came to London as a teenager in the early 1990s.
In her case, the defining moment came when she and a friend were strolling through an outdoor market in the Crystal Palace district. A modeling agent noticed the 18-year-old student, which led to her first job in Tina Turner's music video "GoldenEye." The rest is supermodel history.
Thirty years later, Alek Wek is still active and prominent in the industry. In Juba, AFP met young people who have seen her on social media feeds.
"Damn it - I just saw her and thought that could be me one day," says 19-year-old Yar Agou, who has now signed a modeling contract with Jubalicious.
Sent home
Alek Wek has said in interviews that when she was about to move to the United States early in her career, she was instead sent back to Africa due to inadequate ID documents.
That "obstacle course" has only gotten tougher since then, as attitudes towards immigration in the West have hardened. Yar Agou had a job at Milan Fashion Week in late February - but couldn’t go when her EU visa application was rejected at the last minute.
Now she works as a cleaner at home in Juba while waiting for the next chance.
“Trying to deter”
Bichar Hoah, 24, who grew up in the Kakuma refugee camp in neighboring Kenya, was also turned down by authorities when he applied for a visa after being offered a job in Europe. Now he is trying to keep his spirits up.
"Some people try to discourage us by saying we tried and failed," he told AFP.
The hope of changing the international image of South Sudan for the better drives him.
I want to represent my country as a model.
Bluffed the family
Rigid family structures with a sense of honor and prejudice can also hinder aspiring models. Another of today's hottest names, Anyier Anei, can attest to this. Growing up, her mother said she resembled Alek Wek. But her father forbade her from pursuing a career in modeling.
So when Anei went to Paris at the age of 18 to become a model, she lied and told her family that the move was part of her training to become a pharmacist.
Five years later, she is an international star, and also appears as an actress, including in the French film "Couture." She revealed the deception in front of her family in interviews in 2023.
"When my father sees this, I want him to know that everything I do is to become something," Anei told V Magazine.
I'm not just doing this for myself, but for younger girls who can look up to me.
South Sudan is the world's newest country. It became independent in 2011, when what was until then Africa's largest country was split in two - the northern parts remained Sudan, while the southern parts broke away to become South Sudan.
The country is characterized by the Nile River, whose surrounding wetlands cover enormous areas. The giant river's sources are largely located further south in Africa, and its waters then flow north through South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.
South Sudan's eleven million inhabitants are predominantly Nilotic peoples. They are known for being tall and slender, and for having very dark skin.
