I could never understand why other kids wanted to truant – my education here gave me everything. It’s the place where I really got to flourish. Alek Wek Read Quote
I grew up in southern Sudan, one of nine children. Our life was simple but very happy. Alek Wek Read Quote
I think beauty is not just about what we put on our heads or on our faces or what we wear: it’s deeper than that, and if we can celebrate that, celebrate the women, not just the superficiality… I think it would be really gorgeous. Alek Wek Read Quote
You can feel very strongly that someone doesn’t like you. I think any model who didn’t have the same sort of upbringing as me would find that very difficult. But I absolutely knew I was entitled. I never thought I was ugly – it never crossed my mind. Alek Wek Read Quote
London is like my second home. I’ve still got friends there from school and from when I first started in the modelling business – people such as Karen Elson, Jasmine Guinness, Jade Parfitt. Alek Wek Read Quote
Leaving southern Sudan as a child was terrifying. It was 1985, and my family and I were trying to escape to Khartoum, the capital in the North, to safety. Alek Wek Read Quote
