Known For: South Sudanese-British model and designer
Category: Models
Occupation: supermodel, actor, model
Country: South Sudan
City: Wau
Date of Birth: Saturday, 16 April 1977
Alek Wek is a South Sudanese-British model and designer who began her fashion career at the age of 18 in 1995. She has been hailed for her influence on the perception of beauty in the fashion industry. She is from the Dinka ethnic group in South Sudan, but fled to Britain in 1991 to escape the civil war in Sudan. In 2015, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.
| BirthPlace | Wau |
| Education | Q1627503 |
| Awards | Q16153104 |
| Wikipedia | Alek_Wek |
Alek was born April 16,1977, and she was born in Wau, Sudan (now South Sudan), in a two-bedroom house without electricity or running water, and is the seventh of nine children. Her mother Akuol (b. 1946) was a housewife, and her father Athian (1933–1985) was an education official. Her name reportedly means "Black Spotted Cow". When the civil war broke out in Wau in 1985, the Wek family had to flee from both rebel and government forces. Her father, Athian, once broke his hip in a bicycle accident, and his hip was repaired with metal pins. Long periods of walking caused Athian's hip to get infected, and upon the family's return to Wau, he became paralysed and endured a haemorrhage. He died at a relative's home in Khartoum.
