In this episode, Cassia from Arts4Refugees speaks with Harini- a student journalist working with us on a placement organised by the Oxford University Career Services. Harini is a second year studying Geography. She has always had an interest in the fashion industry and has used this internship as an opportunity to research Anok Yai, a supermodel who is currently living and working in the USA. Harini chose to write about her as Yai’s refugee status is often under discussed in the media, although she is well known in her industry.
Yai was born in Cairo after her parents moved there to escape the unrest caused by the Second Sudanese War. When she was three years old, her family moved to New Hampshire in the USA. Her career began almost overnight after an image of her at the Howard University Homecoming was posted on Instagram and went viral, which led to her being scouted by the agency Next Model Management.
Alongside her extensive modelling career, Yai is outspoken about the fashion industry’s failure to support black women, and works to support and empower fellow black models. Harini notes that the media rarely talks about Yai’s refugee status, although she has been praised for her work speaking about the experience of being a black women in the fashion industry
You can listen to the full conversation here.
Key Points:
Harini is a Geography student in her second year at the University of Oxford
Anok Yai was catapulted to fame after a photo of her posted on Instagram went viral
Named one of the best dressed at the 2023 Met Gala
She opened the Prada Autumn/Winter 2018 show in Milan, the only black woman to have done this since Naomi Campbell over twenty years ago
She was featured in Say Something video by Rapper Lil Yatchy
If you would like to learn more about Anok Yai - there is a short story by Harini here.
