HEN THE EDITORS of American Elle decided to put Alek Wek on the cover of their November 1997 issue, it was as if it were the second coming of Christ. Literally. The editors and publishers of American fashion magazines like to perpetrate the myth that having a non-white, blue-eyed blonde model on their covers is tantamount to a disaster the world hasn’t seen since the Titanic was hit by that iceberg.
   The party line is that advertisers will rebel and cancel ads, readers will cancel their subscribers, and that the issue will not sell at the newsstands, with the end of the month returns higher than usual. Of course, intellectually, we all knew that it’s all hogwash. The reality is that beauty comes in many shades and sizes and we must embrace them all. Alek Wek, throughout her brilliantly handled career, has been sure-fire proof of that. The responses to that cover from men and women of all races were monumental. The issue sold out at the newsstands long before the month was out. The naysayers got it wrong.
   Her striking beauty and innate grace (sometimes under pressure of the moment) deservedly won her even more ardent new fans. When she later appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Ms Winfrey, no slouch herself in the accomplishments’ department, saluted her by remarking, ‘If you’d been on the cover of a magazine when I was growing up, I would have had a different concept of who I was.’ And she ought to know.
   But as Alek herself so eloquently stated in an interview (‘Sisters in Arms’) with Iman Addulmajid, the great supermodel of the ’70s and early ’80s, for Scene magazine, ‘I believe that true beauty comes from inside you and that always shows through. I have no problem with whatever the next big look [in fashion] is, whether it's big blonde hair and blue eyes or green hair and dark eyes. That’s fine so long as there isn’t just one ideal image. Don’t try and tell me that only one look is beautiful!’
   Alek Wek is an intelligent, assured woman of many talents and accomplishments, and it would be a very grave mistake indeed to underestimate her

‘Painting,’ says Wek, ‘has always been a part of my life and with [any] luck, it will continue to be a contributing force in my future. If the opportunity is right, I would love to have my work showcased in a gallery’

and her drive to succeed. She has been a trendsetter throughout her modelling career, having been named Model of the Decade by the iconoclastic i-D magazine, picked as one of People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People and one of the 50 Most Influential Faces in Fashion by both i-D and Frank. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
   Born into the Sudanese Dinka tribe in 1977, Ms Wek was raised in a large but loving close-knit family (of nine brothers and sisters) in the small village of Wau. She remembers the early years of her childhood before the outbreak of civil war as being peaceful and some of the best memories she carries with her throughout her daily life. ‘My mother would wake up early every morning and go out to the markets for fruits and vegetables. When she came back, I’d go through the basket to see what she’s got. It was such a nice household and a beautiful town. But once war broke out, everything changed.’
   The civil unrest was just the start. The family was forced to leave their village and moved to Khartoum, where her father, an education administrator, unexpectedly died from post-op complications after a routine hip replacement operation. Soon after the family split up with Alek and a younger sister going to Britain to live with her older sister in London. The remaining family members were eventually allowed to leave Sudan and given refuge by Australia and Canada. The years in London were spent with the sisters working at odd jobs to support themselves and her mother, as well as studying fashion technology and business at the prestigious London College of Fashion where she further developed her love of art and painting.
   ‘Painting,’ she says, ‘has always been a part of my life and with [any] luck, it will continue to be a contributing force in my future. If the opportunity is right, I would love to have my work showcased in a gallery.’

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INSET: Alek Wek. TOP: It’s not hard to see why she’s one of People’s 50 most beautiful: Wek at the Chado Ralph Rucci fall 2003 collection. ABOVE: Items from the Alek Wek 1933 Limited Akua collection.