THE SUPERMODEL KARL LAGERFELD HANDPICKED AS HIS "BRIDE".

when you think of top models being discovered you think of places like New York you think of Paris Milan you don't think of War strings [Music] on Christmas day in 1999 in nerus South Sudan I was born on the way to Kenya she said and I haven't been to sedan since she was born a refugee her family fled the Sudanese Civil War when did you lose your debt I actually don't have any memory of my of my father before I was born oh wow yeah so yeah and they ended up in the UN kakuma refugee camp which is nestled between Kenya and Uganda I wondered what your earliest memory was because you've lived very distinct lives yes I have [Music] um so quite surprised I have pretty um you know when I was younger in the camp as you know some of the best memories I have is just being a child I didn't know I was in a refugee camp it never felt like I was in a refugee camp and then there was you know the terrifying memories of I'm like four and you know being a four-year-old you don't really understand what's going on but you know you have some sort of gut feeling or sense that something is not right and I remember there would be times where um you know my family and my relatives and people around me would be scared because you know they would be they thought that there was people coming to come and kidnap their kids and kill us the older sister was the only family member they could afford to send a school since it was so expensive in the refugee camps she said we took advantage of the daylight because we only had one oil lamp she and her family ended up in Adelaide Australia when she was seven my first went to Australia with my with my old sister and they started a Visa process from my mother and my younger sister they were reunited yes we were with my older sister who I hadn't seen for she went to Australia a few years before us and she's like my best friend and and all my other family that was in Australia before us to make into me her mother worked as a supervisor in her laundry she'd wake up at 4am and come home at 10 pm she attended International School where she learned English education was the thing I wanted the most as a child and growing up in a refugee camp I wasn't able to go to school so when I heard we were coming to Australia that was the thing I was most excited about I want to have knowledge I want to be smart I knew I was always going to be an independent girl so I needed to know things my mom gave up on her education to be a young mom and look after us I was doing it for me for my mom to make my family proud I had to prove to myself and to my mom that I could do my modeling and school at the same time for her to even let me do modeling soon after she transferred to a general population school where she went by the name Mary it was her Christian name for some reason it was so hard to say my name or they would say it in funny ways and it just made me feel insecure I suppose or bad I decided if I was going to do this modeling thing I was going to go with my own name so she had the typical story of being bullied for a skin tone she was scouted multiple times in her hometown when she was 13 but her parents didn't approve when she was 15 her mom gave in she was signed to Chadwick models her career almost ended early on after her extended family put strain on her mom in 2016. they'd say she's gonna fail at it like all the other girls and if she drops out of school it's your fault uncles and aunties and cousins and everyone were telling me not to do it they thought all models do is walk around in front of people naked that it was not an actual career seeing what it was doing to a mother she offered to quit I could see how I was affecting her and I wanted him to shut up and leave her alone instead her mom encouraged her to do it she told me I know you'll regret it later and what kind of mother would I be if I let you give up on something I know you can do and you love doing [Music] she walks in a show put on by her aunt and Polaroids that are taken at the show get into the hands of Anthony baccarello I just finished participating in Fashion Week in Australia when I got the call from my agent I remember it was a Wednesday night I was sitting at home in my school uniform trying to catch up after being away for a few weeks mom was in Africa at the time by Friday I was on a plane to Paris for the first time I went alone like it was meant to happen he booked her as a global exclusive and she walked the spring 2017 show I arrived with a swollen foot nobody told me to wear compression socks on the flight so I slept the entire trip and walked with a humongous foot and couldn't wear any shoes I was stressing out I went to the hospital for eight hours all thanks to a piece of glass they found in my foot which got infected and made things worse during rehearsals at Saint Laurent I collapsed and started crying the costume director ran up to me and picked me up off the floor I told him I couldn't walk in any of the shoes they wanted me to wear and I thought I'd blown my chances in the end they put me in a pair of men's tuxedo shoes to wear with my dress [Music] she went on to shoot campaigns for Sandy Moschino and Valentino was my first ever fragrance ad I used to always dream about being in an ad like that walking through duty free when I first flew to Paris to now being the face of one of the biggest Global makeup brands in the world Valentino holds a special spot in my heart pierpal looks beyond visible Beauty he accepts people for who they are the fact that he chose me to represent this fragrance is another Pinch Me career moment I am the first black female to be the face of a Valentino fragrance I hope this opens up doors for other models of color it's a huge statement and I'm proud to be part of it to date she has 21 vote covers [Music] and she was the second black model to book the bride spot at a Chanel Couture show I met Carl in February 2018 at my fitting profendi during Milan Fashion Week he was sitting in his chair and he told me I was gorgeous I was like is he serious this is crazy I was trying to remain calm and professional but all I wanted to do was run out of the room and to ring my mom to tell her what he said then he started asking why no one had brought me to him before why haven't I seen her at Chanel the room went silent it was awkward from that moment I felt a connection with him I did a Fendi show then my first should know after that and we spent hours one-on-one in a studio he also liked to call me shoot bad just like his cat it's so sweet that's also when he asked if I wanted to be his Chanel Couture bride I was like yes of course this is my biggest achievement by far an experience I will take to my grave being Carl's pride and being so close with him through so many fittings is forever ingrained in my mind [Music] foreign [Applause] it's bigger than just the title in this industry it is for the little girls and boys who are not heard and seen it is for refugees all around the world who are in a tough position in their life right now and feel like there's no way out so that might save this whatever it is that you want to do whether it's modeling or acting or medicine you should never doubt yourself or let the world convince you that it is not possible because if a little dark-skinned South Sudanese Refugee who comes from absolutely nothing can do it so can you don't let anybody tell you otherwise thank you so much thank you [Applause] [Music] to me a superwoman is someone like my mother how strong she is how hard working she thinks of Naomi Campbell as her fashion mother I remember when I closed the Saint Laurent show under the Eiffel Tower you're backstage and from there that was it we'd already met but then we became friends we exchange numbers you texted me and it felt really supportive at that moment I needed that so much I never thought that kind of support would come from the Naomi Campbell I felt that love from you I felt that connection I love a dude I love a zoo I saw her when she was 16 I shot her ready kind of knew with her and I was in the mirror getting down and I looked so I saw this guy behind me and actually Diddy was with me too so we were doing our Pirelli and I looked and he also looked we both saw at the same time we were just like who is that girl she's so striking and this was what just when she was 16 and we just knew this girl's and stuff and Edward Anna fall as a fashion father when she's on the runway she sees no one but NFL I get stage fright when I see people the only person I notice is Edward if I look around and get nervous it's going to show [Music] we don't even talk about fashion much she says she champions for diversity and equality for darker skin models when I started there were barely any black girls black models or models of Colette working in Australia and that wasn't that long ago I always felt like even though in my first Fashion Week I was the girl who walked the most shows I was one of the few black girls there it never felt right it always felt like this needs to change and I was hopeful and optimistic that it was going to change and now it has the industry is changing a lot drastically there's still a lot more to be done but nothing to even speak of anymore because we all know what needs to be changed it got to the point where I was like I'm not going to keep having short hair anymore just to please the industry I want to have long hair I want to have hair that allows hairstyles to actually be creative there's two black hairstyles Cynthia Harvey and jawara they are the only two people I can trust with my hair and keep using my voice for not just me but all the other black girls that want to have nice hair and want to have their hair done there is a part of our culture they are part of us the industries that we work in need to respect that the same treatment that is given to Caucasian girls in their hair needs to be given to us if you're not going to do it for us we will do it ourselves and you have no choice but to accept it whether you understand or don't understand as long as you accept it I'm okay with it spoke out when the who an Australian publication misidentified her in another black model Australian supermodel aketch has broken her silence after a magazine published a photo of the wrong model on the eve of Melbourne Fashion Week I don't think that it was intentional but it is racist because you know kind of telling me that what every single black model looks the same or you know she's she spoke United Nations about her experience as a refugee who I am like I've mentioned before no matter you know no amount of money or my status or how famous or whatever the case is I'm always going to be a refugee and I am proud of who I am before I was anything I was South Sudanese before I became a model or got to where I am now in my life my career my status I was a South Sudanese woman a refugee an immigrant and I am proud [Music] thank you

Channel: Aston Em

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Keywords: adut, adut akech, mary akech, adut akech profile, adut akech bio, adut akech biography, adut akech doc, adut akech documentary, sudanese models, model documentary

Id: 6uahdgt1C70

Length: 12min 31sec (751 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 18 2023