African models have long been part of fashion’s global story, but a new generation is building careers that stretch well beyond a single runway season. From Lagos and Dakar to Addis Ababa, Johannesburg and South Sudanese communities across the diaspora, these models are appearing in major fashion shows, global campaigns, magazine covers and editorials, often becoming recognisable faces for some of the world’s biggest fashion houses.
Some are just beginning to make their mark, while others have already built impressive international careers. Together, they reflect the range of faces, backgrounds and stories shaping the industry today. Here are some of the African models to know.
Victoria Fawole (Nigeria)
Victoria Fawole was discovered on Facebook by her mother agency, Anani Models, while she was still living in Lagos with no plans of becoming a model. Her international debut came in February 2021, when she walked Simone Rocha's Autumn/Winter 2021 show in London, a first season that quickly opened doors to Maison Alaïa, Dior, Fendi, Valentino, and Jean Paul Gaultier. Since then, Fawole has become one of the industry's most in-demand faces, closing Marc Jacobs' Autumn/Winter 2024 show and building a campaign portfolio that includes Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Alaïa, Rabanne, Jil Sander, and Versace. Her editorial credits stretch across Vogue, T Magazine, Another Magazine, and W Magazine.
Malick Bodian (Senegal)
Malick Bodian was scouted on the street in Corsica at nineteen and made his runway debut at Valentino's Fall/Winter 2018 show. Two years later, he became the first Black male model to walk a Givenchy Couture show. Since then, he's fronted campaigns for Dior, Hugo Boss, Ferragamo, and Louis Vuitton's Yayoi Kusama collaboration, and walked for Jil Sander and Tom Ford. Bodian has also stepped behind the camera as a self-taught photographer, shooting editorials for Vogue and campaigns for Bottega Veneta and Wales Bonner, and exhibiting a project documenting his travels through Senegal during OFF Paris Photo and OFF Biennale Dakar.
Nyagua Ruea (Kenya, South Sudanese)
Born in Kenya to a South Sudanese family, Nyagua Ruea decided at nine or ten years old, after researching the industry, that she would become a model. She made her runway debut in 2019 and closed her first show, Dion Lee's Fall/Winter 2022 collection, before landing her first cover for British Vogue's February 2022 issue, the magazine's first with an all-Black cast. She has since walked for Saint Laurent, Valentino, Schiaparelli, Hermès, Balmain, Givenchy, and Chloé, and fronted campaigns for Michael Kors and Dolce & Gabbana Beauty.
Amar Akway (Ethiopia)
Before fashion, Amar Akway was a competitive runner on Ethiopia's national athletics team, a path she credits for the discipline she now brings to every booking. Scouted by a modelling agent, she made her international debut on the Lanvin Spring/Summer 2020 runway and, at just 19, landed a spot on Models.com's list of top newcomers that season. Akway has since walked for Givenchy, Valentino, Dries Van Noten, and Schiaparelli, and fronted campaigns for Zara and Mugler, alongside an editorial for D Magazine.
Rosalie Ndour (Senegal)
Rosalie Ndour left Senegal for Milan, where she has built one of the more extensive runway CVs on this list: Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani, and Armani Privé Haute Couture across multiple seasons, alongside Dolce & Gabbana, Balmain, Hermès, Valentino Haute Couture, Chanel Pre-Fall, Max Mara Resort, LaQuan Smith, Marine Serre, Isaia, and Philipp Plein. Her campaign work includes Montblanc, Bally, Armani Exchange, and Off-White Swimwear, with editorial covers for Vogue Thailand and appearances in Grazia and Vanity Fair Italia.
Christie Munezero (Rwanda)
Christie Munezero has quietly become a fixture of recent fashion weeks, walking for Polo Ralph Lauren, Diesel, Elie Saab, Genny, Onitsuka Tiger, and Theophilio across 2024 and 2025. As one of the few Rwandan faces on the international circuit, her steady rise is a reminder that fashion's map of Africa is still filling in, with plenty more ground to cover from the country's runways ahead.
Nyanderi Deng (South Sudan, Kenya)
Nyanderi Deng's family moved from South Sudan to Kenya in 2005, as one of ten brothers and fourteen sisters in a large household. She has gone on to walk for Dolce & Gabbana, Lemaire, Saint Laurent, Off-White, Elie Saab, and Zadig & Voltaire, and appeared in a British Vogue editorial and a campaign for Uniqlo.
Adit Priscilla (Uganda, South Sudanese)
Adit Priscilla grew up in Uganda dreaming of a modelling career and was scouted at sixteen by Joram Model Management. She made her runway debut at Fendi's Fall/Winter 2021 show and, just months later, landed her first cover for Dazed's Summer 2021 issue. That momentum carried her into campaigns for Chanel, Missoni, Heaven by Marc Jacobs, and Altuzarra, and onto both Models.com's Hot List and its Top 50.
Maty Fall (Senegal, Italy)
Maty Fall was born in Ouest Foire, north of Dakar, and moved to Chiampo, in northern Italy, at nine years old to join her father. After submitting photos to IMG Models, she made her debut during Saint Laurent and Valentino's Spring/Summer 2020 shows, closing Valentino the same season and went on to walk an astonishing 37 shows the following season, including Chanel, Dior, Fendi, and Max Mara. She has since become a campaign face for Cartier, Etro, and Prada, with cover credits for Vogue Italia.
Aluel Keror (South Sudan)
Aluel Keror, based in London, has moved quickly through fashion's biggest shows over the past year, walking Balenciaga, Chanel, Ashi Studio, Standing Ground, Wooyoungmi, System, and Auralee, alongside an Erdem lookbook, a Mission Magazine editorial, and an Elle UK feature. She is one of the newest names in the current wave of South Sudanese models reshaping the runway.
Jewel Ndukwe (Nigeria)
Jewel Ndukwe has moved quickly through some of fashion's most closely watched shows, walking Coperni's Spring/Summer 2025 presentation alongside Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Maison Margiela, MM6 Maison Margiela, Zimmermann, Alberta Ferretti, and Brunello Cucinelli. Her rapid run across both Milan and Paris fashion weeks marks her as one of the sharper new entries from Nigeria's modelling pipeline.
Achol Ayor (South Sudan)
Achol Ayor was signed after an open call with Joram Model Management in Kampala and got her breakout moment with a Miu Miu campaign — an experience she's called a long-held dream come true. She has since walked for Fendi, Jean Paul Gaultier, Balenciaga, Coperni, and Dsquared2, and fronted lookbooks for Zara.
Ajah Angau (South Sudan, Nigeria)
Ajah Angau grew up in Nigeria dreaming of Saint Laurent, writing the brand's name in a notebook and watching its shows in secret. Years later, she walked into a Saint Laurent casting in Paris and ended up debuting for the house, closing its Fall/Winter 2022 show. Since then, she has worked with Chanel, Prada, Alaïa, Carolina Herrera, Marni, and Ralph Lauren, landing on Models.com's Hot List and the cover of V Magazine.
Ugbad Abdi (Somalia, Kenya, USA)
Ugbad Abdi's family fled the Somali Civil War to a Kenyan refugee camp before resettling in Des Moines, Iowa, when she was nine. Scouted on Instagram shortly after high school, she made her runway debut at Valentino's Spring/Summer 2019 Haute Couture show, going on to open shows for Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors at New York Fashion Week. She became the first model to walk runway shows for Fendi and Lanvin while wearing a hijab, and has since walked for Chanel, Miu Miu, Burberry, and Max Mara, appearing on the cover of Vogue France.
Akon Changkou (South Sudan, Australia)
Akon Changkou moved to Australia with her family at nine and was scouted on Instagram years later, despite being told by various agencies she wasn't tall enough to model. Sent to New York, she made her runway debut as a Louis Vuitton exclusive in 2020, having never walked a runway before and went on to open the house's 2022 show after walking in five of its seasons. She has appeared on the covers of British Vogue and Vogue France, and become a face of Dior Beauty and Chanel campaigns.
Nyawurh Chuol (South Sudan/Canada)
Nyawurh Chuol, based in New York, has built a runway résumé that includes Jean Paul Gaultier, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and Lacoste, alongside a campaign for Canada Goose. She's part of the same generation of South Sudanese-born models, many of them, like her, holding dual nationality after resettling abroad, who now regularly appear across Models.com's rankings each season.
Bedzo Seth (Ghana)
Accra-based Bedzo Seth has built his career walking Filippa K and Hed Mayner, with editorial work for ICON Magazine Italy, SSENSE, and Vogue Italia. As part of a small wave of Ghanaian menswear models, alongside names like Prince Brefo and Ottawa Kwami, making their way onto European runways, Seth represents a country whose modelling industry is still building its international pipeline.
Tobi Momoh (Nigeria)
Tobi Momoh represented Nigeria at the Elite Model Look World Final in 2017, a competition win that launched her onto the runways of Milan, Paris, and London. She made her fashion week debut walking for Balmain, Benetton, Tod's, Iceberg, Agnona, Philipp Plein, Balenciaga, and Andrew Gn in a single season, and has since added Messika Paris and Rick Owens to her runway credits, alongside a campaign for Leonard Paris.
Conclusion
Taken together, these eighteen models trace a map that stretches from Lagos to Kigali, from Juba to Kismayo, from Accra to Milan, proof that African beauty and talent are no longer confined to a single narrative or a single continent. As international runways keep expanding their idea of who belongs on them, this generation is making sure Africa's presence there is a permanent fixture.
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