Glamsquad Magazine December 2022

FEATURE
Anok Yai:
From Lonely Streets
To Crowded Runways
Praise David
Born a Refugee, Anok Yai Is Breaking
Barriers as One of Fashion’s Most
Sought-After Models
Deciding to attend Howard
University’s 2017 Homecoming changed
the South Sudanese’s life forever. Today
she has walked fashion shows for some
of the industry’s leading brands and has
been on some of the most prominent
covers.
A photographer snapped her photo
and posted it to his Instagram. The next
morning the then college student awoke
to thousands of followers and messages
from modeling agencies. Her life hasn’t
been the same since then. But followers
and calls from modeling agencies is not
enough to keep any new model relevant.
By surrounding herself with a solid team
of talented people and marrying her
business savvy skills with strategy, Anok Yai
and her team have strategically been
able to position her as one of the fashion
industry’s most sought-after models where
the twenty-three-year-old has continued
to stay relevant.
Early life as a refugee
Born in Cairo, Egypt, Anok and her
family are originally from South Sudan.
The nation has undergone two civil wars
and, today, armed conflict is a reality of
the nation. Anok was born as a refugee
during the second South Sudanese civil
war. Struggle and the fight to have a
better life were the first chapters of her
early life story. She knows the plight of
being a refugee and today, it’s an issue
that’s close to her heart.
“Being a refugee myself, I know the
kinds of struggles my own family went
through,” she explains. “When we came
to the US I was around 3 or 4 and we
stopped in New York City first and then
went to New Hampshire because they
had the most benefits for immigrants.
We were given government housing
and assistance.
Had we not been given that I don’t
know where we would have ended
up. Growing up I saw how much my
parents struggled. Having assistance
alone wasn’t enough. My parents were
www.glamsquadmagazine.com 31