3 South Sudan Models, Including Alek Wek, Dominate Global Runways as Visa Issues Persist

(SOUTH SUDAN) — South Sudanese models are dominating global catwalks as fashion houses seek taller frames, darker skin and striking features, but visa and travel barriers continue to decide who can turn runway visibility into steady international work.

Casting directors and audiences have embraced a look long underrepresented in high fashion, pushing South Sudanese women into some of the world’s most watched shows. The rise has also exposed a less visible reality: international careers depend on cross-border paperwork and logistics that can unravel after a single booking.

Dawson Deng, organizer of South Sudan Fashion Week, linked the demand to runway norms as well as aesthetics. He described the appeal as “perfect, dark skin. melanin. [and] height,” aligning with what many brands prize in show lineups.

The prominence did not arrive overnight, even as public attention can make it appear sudden. A pipeline formed through early breakthroughs, then expanded as agencies and fashion-week placements kept proving that a distinct look could sell garments and headlines.

Alek Wek emerged as an early figure who helped shift casting expectations from the 1990s. Scouted in London after fleeing South Sudan during the Second Sudanese War, she became known as a trailblazer for her unique look and walk, inspiring others despite not being the absolute first.

Her success offered a reference point that later careers could build on, as newer faces reinforced that South Sudanese models were not a one-time exception. Anok Yai and Duckie Thot continued that visibility, appearing as contemporaries who “continue to dominate runways.”

Thot’s profile rose through a mix of television exposure and a high-wattage runway debut. She gained attention on Australia’s Next Top Model season 8, then debuted at Yeezy S/S 17 in 2017.

Those moments mattered in a business that often measures credibility by who has already walked, and where a single season can lead to another. Even so, the industry’s appetite for specific faces and bodies does not remove the administrative demands that come with frequent international travel.

Across the last three decades, milestones have served as markers of representation more than guarantees of stable income. Early breakthroughs widened the idea of who could front a campaign or anchor a runway lineup, while later seasons brought repeated proof of demand in the biggest fashion capitals.

Recent fashion-week participation has also highlighted how quickly momentum can stall when travel cannot. Achol Malual Jau’s experience put that tension in plain view, contrasting a major runway moment with an abrupt return to life far from the industry’s glamour.

Jau walked at London Fashion Week in 2023 after months of heel practice, a breakthrough that signaled how far emerging talent from South Sudan could go with coaching and a single opportunity. The work culminated in a high-profile appearance, the sort of credit that can change how a model is seen by bookers and brands.

Five months later, she returned to a Kenya refugee camp with no earnings, despite public assumptions that a London Fashion Week walk must bring immediate financial stability. “I worked hard but came back with no money,” she said.

Her account underscores how fashion’s optics can distort the economics of early-stage careers, especially when cross-border work hinges on permissions that can be temporary, limited or difficult to secure quickly. It also shows how the gap between fame and pay can widen when opportunities require short-notice travel, sponsorship and document checks.

The friction point is not limited to one model’s story, but her case illustrates the stakes. A runway credit can raise a profile, yet still leave a model unable to move freely enough to accept the next job or get paid in a way that sustains a career.

South Sudanese representation remains strong in women’s high fashion, but logistical hurdles continue to shape who can capitalize on demand for their look. Those hurdles can interrupt careers at the moment they appear to take off, forcing long pauses between opportunities that are often clustered around tightly scheduled fashion weeks.

In that sense, the same industry that celebrates the global nature of its runways also depends on national border systems that were not designed around fast-moving creative work. A model may be booked for a show while still navigating requirements that determine whether she can enter a country, stay long enough to work, and travel onward to the next city.

Deng’s remarks about “perfect, dark skin. melanin. [and] height” point to the way aesthetic preferences can map onto established runway standards. Yet the difference between being booked for a show and sustaining an international career can still come down to paperwork and travel logistics, rather than talent or readiness.

The public face of modeling often compresses long personal histories into a few images, a short catwalk video, and a handful of show credits. Wek’s own story, beginning with being scouted in London after fleeing war, sits behind the polished images that audiences associate with high fashion.

Thot’s path also demonstrates how different entry points can lead to the same global stage, with television exposure feeding into a debut at Yeezy S/S 17 in 2017. For viewers, the leap can look simple; for models, each step depends on being in the right place at the right time with the ability to travel.

Jau’s London Fashion Week appearance in 2023, backed by months of heel practice, adds another layer to the picture. Training and preparation can produce a breakthrough, but the aftermath may still include returns to circumstances far removed from the fashion calendar.

In recent coverage, no 2026-specific visa policy updates appeared alongside the discussion of South Sudanese model dominance. The fashion calendar, however, continued to elevate African talent, with African models featuring prominently at Paris and Milan Men’s Fashion Weeks.

That visibility in menswear skewed toward Nigerians, with the source noting “primarily Nigerian males like Ezekiel Oladipo and Prince for Louis Vuitton Men’s Fall 2026.” The mention served as a reminder that Africa’s presence on global runways is broadening, even as different nationalities and categories of modeling face their own mobility constraints.

For South Sudanese women, the attention remains especially pronounced in high fashion, where the combination of height, skin tone and features aligns with what many brands seek on the runway. The repeated presence of South Sudanese models also reflects a broader representation trend in fashion that has made room for faces and backgrounds once treated as outside the norm.

Still, representation does not erase the underlying barriers that decide who can take repeated bookings across London, Paris, Milan and beyond. The same season that brings a breakthrough can also bring delays, missed shows, or returns home when travel cannot be arranged in time.

Jau’s statement, “I worked hard but came back with no money,” also challenges an assumption that visibility automatically translates into earnings. Her experience shows how quickly the glow of a major runway can fade when the next step requires the ability to move, work and get compensated across borders.

The contrast between runway imagery and post-show reality can be stark, particularly when a model’s living situation includes a refugee camp and when international work depends on permissions that can be hard to secure or maintain. In that environment, even high-profile work can end with a return to uncertainty.

As 2026 approaches, the picture that emerges is one of strong representation but unresolved mobility hurdles. Brands, agencies and event organizers can elevate South Sudanese talent in castings and campaigns, yet immigration systems and travel logistics still shape who can turn demand into a sustained career.