Every year the British Fashion Council (BFC), a fashion nonprofit, determines who will hold the coveted role of model of the year. The decision is made through two stages of voting by a wide variety of international fashion industry professionals, including the CEO of the BFC Laura Weir, and the winner is celebrated at the British Fashion Awards. This year, the anticipated award has been given to Anok Yai, a Sudanese model raised in the U.S. who rapidly rose to fame in recent years.
While on the surface, this is just a modelling award, the BFC carries a lot of weight and is often politically charged, so there tends to be a lot of discourse over who wins the prize. This is the third year Yai has been nominated, and last year she wasn’t shy about expressing feeling snubbed after it was given to Alex Consani.
While public opinion was mixed, many understood Yai’s frustration over not winning after having already been nominated twice. However, ultimately, Consani’s win was also an important breakthrough, as she was the first trans woman to win the award, and the BFC wanted to celebrate all of the work she’s done for the LGBTQ+ community, such as specific advocacy for the transgender community. Consani also paid homage to Black trans women who had paved the way for her during her acceptance speech. Yai eventually congratulated her in a tweet, clearing up any drama that came across to the general public.
All that to be said, Yai’s win this year is undeniably well-deserved, and her rise to fame is one to be studied. Yai is South-Sudanese, but born in Cairo. She eventually moved to the U.S. where she grew up. Yai became a miraculous overnight sensation after a photographer snapped a photo of her at Howard University homecoming and posted it online. The stunning photo of Yai went instantly viral, boosting her to stardom.
Yai quickly began breaking barriers for dark-skinned women in the fashion and modeling industry. After Naomi Campbell, she was only the second Black woman to open a fashion show for Prada. This year alone she has opened shows for Ferragamo, Coperni, and Hugo Boss, and has done covers for a variety of fashion magazines.
Considering that Black women have often been pushed to the sidelines in the beauty and fashion industries, representation and recognition in spaces that have been rife with colorism, the notion of valuing lighter skin colors over darker skin colors, is incredibly important.
While there is still much work to be done, Yai is breaking glass ceilings for dark-skinned African women and proving that modeling, fashion, and beauty are not only for white women. She is also demonstrating that women of color shouldn’t be forced to conform to eurocentric beauty ideals to enter these industries or be considered beautiful. The public is clearly thrilled that Yai’s work is finally being acknowledged by the BFC, and, if you ask me, no one deserves it more.