Anok Yai is a name many have uttered since well before her showstopping turn as a head-turner on the 2024 MET Gala carpet. There, the supermodel stunned the carpet wearing a full-body Swarovski-jeweled ombre jumpsuit, covered in 98,000 crystals from head-to-toe, and serving face, body, and then some all night long. To put it simply, sis ate. However, the 26-year-old tends to have that effect on people.
ladies and gentleman, anok yai pic.twitter.com/XKbGdPpZUf
— ✭ (@badestoutfit) May 7, 2024
The South Sudanese model got her start after being spotted at a Howard homecoming event and at 19 years old, she posed for a photo (captured by Steven Hall) that catapulted her into modeling, something the former biochemistry student once believed was out of reach. The pic went viral, Anok signed with Next Management, and the rest is history. As one Twitter user eloquently put it, with that skin, those face-lifting brows, gorgeous eyes, and an undeniably flawless face, Anok is "a work of art."
Since then, Anok has been the epitome of booked and busy. In 2018, she was the first Sudanese model and only the second Black model to ever open a Prada runway show, the first being Naomi Campbell. She has graced international catwalks, walking for the likes of fashion powerhouses Louis Vuitton, Versace, and Fendi to name a few. She has been featured in numerous campaigns for legacy brands like Chanel and Tiffany & Co. She has also starred in music videos for artists like Travis Scott and Lil Yachty. Most recently, the stunner became the face of Mugler's latest fragrance, Alien Hypersense.
But her rise in ascent in the fashion world in terms of popularity and becoming a muse for some of the biggest fashion houses wasn't always easy. Even more recently, the trailblazer took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a racist experience she had while on a set early on in her career. In a series of now-deleted posts, she'd eventually reveal that the incident happened with a photographer shooting her for the popular retailer Zara.
"I remember in 2019 being called a "cockroach" by a photographer in Spanish. It was from this brand that I used to always work with," she wrote in her posts about Zara. Anok went on, "On the 2nd to last day, the makeup artist starts powdering my face and the photographer puts his camera down and yells ‘Lotion la cucaracha’ Everyone on set starts smiling and laughing. I can’t react the way I want to react because at the end of the day I’m young, I’m alone, I’m Black … anything that I do will affect me, my family, and other Black models."
Despite her discomfort, the then-up-and-comer stood on business by refusing to go on set if the photographer who made the offensive comment was still there. "Someone from the team calls me and says ‘we don’t accept that type of behavior, we’ll fire him now. Tell me who he is and we’ll get rid of him.’ I go to set thinking he’s gonna be gone. He walks by me and smiles." Anok then explained that she was 'gaslit' and was told she 'made it up.'
She continued, "I told her I wasn’t lying, she still doesn’t believe me. But I could tell she wanted me to sit down and shut up so I forced them to call my car to the airport and pay my full rate regardless. I remember wanting to come out with the story to magazines but I was told 'think about what it will do to your career.'"
"That was my first (and not only) time being blacklisted I’m sure they thought I wasn’t strong enough to stand But anyways," Anok's series of posts concluded.
Anok Yai/Instagram
Anok is no stranger to advocating for herself. In the past, she has been known for agreeing to only wear her natural hair in an afro or in cornrows during runway shows. "I got quite a hard pushback from the brands, but they noticed I was just standing my ground," she explained in a 2023 interview with Vogue. "When I first started saying no, I was so scared. But what helped me is that I had a really strong team."
This week wasn't the first time Anok took to social media to recount negative or harmful experiences. She did so before to allude to the reason she decided to part ways with long-time agency Next Management in late 2023. After Next Management implied she had been 'dropped' from the agency, Anok mentioned them in one of her Instagram Stories, warning them to 'keep it cute' in how they framed her departure.
The fashion industry can be cutthroat, no matter your experience. Add melanin to the mix, and the grind gets that much harder. Despite some adversities along the path to success, Anok has been able to dust herself off and level up into a promising career with notoriety and longevity. And she has managed to do so while keeping as true to herself as possible.
Our good sis and her face card will never decline, so those who can't compare should never try to compete. Bigotry be damned.
Consider this a reminder, keep reading for 8 more times Anok Yai captivated us with her beauty on Instagram:
The time when Anok played it coy in cream...
The time she was all smiles pictured with Prada
When she served bawdy and R&R while in Senegal
When she dropped her model off duty beauty routine on Vogue
The time she rocked her TWA in the waterways of Venice
When she reinvented the classic bathroom selfie with a series of flicks
When she captivated us in baby blues
The time she gave model off-duty on a Friday
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Featured image by Rosdiana Ciaravolo/Getty Images
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From the day they met, food has always played a role in their relationship, and working together in the food industry is what we call a full circle moment. Learn more about Bryant and Daniella’s story of finding love with one another.
How they met.
Bryant: We met at a mutual clients’ house. She was doing the lady hair, and I was cooking for the lady. The client sent her downstairs to record me while I was cooking to, I guess, see what I was cooking, and I caught her recording, but we didn't talk. I caught her recording, we laughed it off, and she went about her day.
So I guess that was the first thing that made us interact with each other. A few months down the line, I think she posted something [on social media]. I hopped in her DM and responded to it, and then we decided to just meet up and hang out. I looked at her as an entrepreneur. I'm an entrepreneur. She don’t need nothing. I don’t need nothing. It's good to hang with people who don't need nothing from you.
When we linked up, our chemistry was just so soft and just so nice. She is a great person, but after meeting up with her [for the] first time, she went back to Miami. She came back [to Atlanta], and we just kicked it off that next weekend, and ever since then, we've been locked in.
Daniella: That same client had flew me back in so I knew I had to come up here for work. But I told him that we'll meet up and [go] on a date and see each other again. When that happened, everything else was history. It just happened organically. It wasn’t forced or anything.
Bryant and Daniella Williams
Courtesy
First impressions.
Bryant: I knew for a fact for her to come downstairs and try to record me, I knew that she was brave, and that said a lot about her, because I barely even talk when I'm cooking for my clients. So you have to talk to somebody for them to feel comfortable to play with you, or do certain things. I feel like the client sent her downstairs because she knew that she's an outspoken, bubbly type of person who don't mind laughing it off if she gets caught doing it.
When she came back to Atlanta, she booked me to cook for her family. So while I was cooking for her in the kitchen, the whole time she was in there talking to me. It was like a date in the kitchen, and I cooked her food. Once the food was laid out, I just left. We had a great conversation when I was cooking for her, and also when she came downstairs and tried to record me.
Daniella: I was impressed how he was multitasking because I was asking him deep, interesting questions, and he was cooking the food, and he was still answering my questions. But I was in a relationship at that time, so I wasn't really in tune. It was no emotions. But when I came back and flew in to work, we met with each other.
He came and picked me up from the hotel and we drove around Atlanta, sightseeing. We went to the African club. So when he came downstairs, I was like okay, you not gonna hug me, you not gonna say nothing? He was shocked and we stayed together for like eight or nine hours, and he took me back to the hotel. I think he picked me up around nine at night. He took me back to the hotel around seven in the morning. Then he walked me to my hotel door. He gave me a hug and he gave me a kiss and said, 'I love you.' And I was like, what?
We stayed together for like eight or nine hours, and he took me back to the hotel. I think he picked me up around nine at night. He took me back to the hotel around seven in the morning. Then he walked me to my hotel door. He gave me a hug and he gave me a kiss and said, 'I love you.' And I was like, what?
The one.
Daniella: When we first linked up, he took me around Atlanta. He was soft and gentle. He was a gentleman. He opened the door for me and I never had nobody open the door. He opened the door every single time I was going in and getting out the car, and when we went to that restaurant. I was like, [there’s] something about him, and he was just nice, calm and patient. So I knew he was a little different from what I'm used to.
Bryant: [I knew she was the one by] how she cared so much. She didn't really know me like that. She knew of me, but she cared so much about me. When we first met, she would lay on me and just relax. For someone who just wants to relax on you, that says a lot about them towards you. It wasn't like I had to prove myself and she didn’t have to prove herself with me either. It wasn't nothing like that. We were willing to take whatever came with it. But it just was really a break. It was like the best me meeting a woman because I didn't try.
Any other woman, I might be trying to dress up, take her to this place, I did not try at all. I picked her up and I actually thought that she wasn't gonna go on the date with me because of her status and my status. I'm such a laid back homey dude and she's from Miami. I thought she would be on the City Girls, you gotta do this, do that. But she wasn't. She was the total opposite. She was a homebody, chill, like me.
Bryant and Daniella Williams
Courtesy
Marriage advice for couples.
Bryant: Work together. Communication, put your mind together.
Daniella: And keep your family out your business.
Bryant: Keep it private please. Y'all work it out first. When y'all make sure it's solidified, then you tell them, or let them find out on their own. Privacy is the most valuable thing.
Daniella: And date each other because people get married and they stop doing the things that they did to get you, or stop doing the things that they did while they were in a relationship with you, before y'all got married. No, do the same thing. For me, I get bored easy, and I think he knows that. So just keep it spicy. Keep it interesting.
Bryant: We like spontaneous stuff like last-minute trips, trying different foods, going out the country just off a spur of a moment. You gotta make it fun. Don't just make it all business. And I think one person out of the relationship needs to take the initiative to make sure their partner is relaxing and at peace. A lot of people carry functional depression to where they’re functional, like we're doing this right now, but they can be going through something.
I don't think it's male or female. I think whichever one, the other partner should notice it and work with their partner to get through whatever they get through, like, for postpartum depression and stuff. That's something that most men don't even really know exist, but that's something when she had our daughter, I had an anti-postpartum depression plan put in place for her. She didn't know about it, but I knew I was gonna be extra sweet to her.
She won't have to think about doing nothing with the little baby. My little girl was watching the football game with me, when she was a few weeks old, because I was giving her that peace, so she can just relax, because her body has been through so much. So you got to be considerate of your mate's mental state and their mental well-being, because when it's gone, it's gone and it takes a lot to get it back, so I think that's important.
When she had our daughter, I had an anti-postpartum depression plan put in place for her. She didn't know about it, but I knew I was gonna be extra sweet to her. She won't have to think about doing nothing with the little baby. My little girl was watching the football game with me, when she was a few weeks old, because I was giving her that peace, so she can just relax, because her body has been through so much.
If you see something not right with your spouse, help them get help. It's okay for them to talk to a therapist by themselves, or it's okay for them to talk to somebody, but don't just sit there and let them go into this decline and self-destruction. I think that's the most important, because sometimes she be overwhelmed, and I have to be that person to hold her up. And then sometimes I'm overwhelmed. To her, baby, I don't want to do this no more. She's like, you gonna do this. We gonna do this. And she reminds me who I am. I remind her who she is, and we come back feeling more motivated.
Daniella: I think business owners should date business owners because they understand your hustle, your hunger. They understand when you can have a day where you make $0 and you have a day when you make $1,000. But I feel like if you dating someone who is in corporate America, and you a business owner, there's going to be a lot of friction, a lot of tension, and I just feel like I want to date someone that has the same drive as me.
Because I don't want to feel like I'm trying to build a bear, build a man, and I have to pull you and drag you, or just being with somebody who got they self together. For instance, my last relationship. I won't say I was the breadwinner, but I was kind of established, and I felt like I was sleeping with the enemy. I was growing fast and I wasn't stagnant. I was trying to get to the next level. He started to be jealous of me and I feel like a lot of women deal with men trying to be jealous of them. Men also have ego issues where they don't really want their woman making a certain amount of money or making more money than them.
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