Alek Wek is a supermodel who came to the catwalks at the age of 18 in 1995. She is originally from the Dinka tribe 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.

She first got attention through 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. In 1997 Alek Wek became the first African model to grace the cover of US ELLE.