Alek Wek

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**Alek Wek**
Alek Wek at FashionWeekLive in San Francisco, March 15, 2007. Photo by Jesse Gross.
Born:	April 16, 1977 (age 29)
Occupation:	Model

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 her family fled to Britain to escape the civil war between the Muslim North and the Christian South of the Sudan.

Wek is sometimes seen as the 'face of Africa'^{[citation needed]}

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 was born in Wau in Southern Sudan and lived there until she was 12, and then moved to England in 1991.

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 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.