The beautiful runway model from Sudan recently made history. Anok Yai is the first black girl to open the Prada runway in the last 20 years. She made history at the Milan Fashion Week with a major statement. The young model only hit limelight recently. She was discovered at last year’s homecoming party at Howard University.
The first black woman to open the runway for Prada was Naomi Campbell and none other has achieved such feat in the last 20 years. The 19 year old model could not hide her joy as she took to Instagram to express gratitude Miuccia Prada and her team.
She was evidently elated by the opportunity to open the show for Prada that she wrote, “Can’t believe I’m the first black woman to open for Prada since queen @iamnaomicampbell, forever grateful.”
Her rise to stardom could easily be termed a fairy tale as just a few weeks after her discovery at the Howard University homecoming she signed a contract Next Models. A month ago she broke into the news again for making her runway debut at the Prada Menswear Fall 2018 show.
Without doubt it is quite troubling that Prada has not deemed it fit to feature a woman of color to open a show in 20 years. For this reason the brand has been scrutinized for a lack of diversity in its shows and campaigns. This decision to cast a woman of color means a new day has come which will have ripple effects on other brands.
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