'They have perfect dark skin': The African nation home to fashion's favourite models

Wearing an understated but chic outfit, flowing braids and a dewy, make-up escaped face, Arop Akol looks similar your emblematic off-duty model.

She sinks into the sofa astatine the offices of her UK agency, First Model Management, and details the burgeoning vocation that has seen her locomotion runways for luxury brands successful London and Paris.

"I had been watching modelling online since I was a kid astatine the property of 11," Akol, present successful her aboriginal twenties, tells the BBC.

In the past 3 years, she has been streamed crossed the satellite portion modelling, adjacent sharing a runway with Naomi Campbell astatine an Off-White show.

Travelling for enactment tin get lonely, but Akol is perpetually bumping into models from her commencement state - the lush, but troubled South Sudan.

"South Sudanese radical person go precise good known for their beauty," says Akol, who has precocious cheekbones, rich, acheronian tegument and stands 5ft 10in tall.

Flick done a manner mag oregon scan footage of a runway amusement and you volition spot Akol's constituent - models calved and raised successful South Sudan, oregon those from the country's sizable diaspora, are everywhere.

They scope from up-and-comers, similar Akol, to supermodels similar Anok Yai, Adut Akech and Alek Wek.

After being scouted successful a London car parkland successful 1995, Wek was 1 of the precise archetypal South Sudanese models to find planetary occurrence . She has since appeared connected galore Vogue covers and modelled for the likes of Dior and Louis Vuitton.

And the popularity of South Sudanese models shows nary signs of waning - starring manufacture level Models.com compiles an yearly database of modelling's apical 50 "future stars" and successful its latest selection, 1 successful 5 models person South Sudanese heritage.

Elsewhere, Vogue featured 4 South Sudanese models successful its nonfiction astir the "11 young models acceptable to tempest the catwalks successful 2025".

"The anticipation of what a exemplary should beryllium - astir of the South Sudanese models person it," says Dawson Deng, who runs South Sudan Fashion Week successful the country's capital, Juba, with chap ex-model Trisha Nyachak.

"They person the perfect, acheronian skin. They person the melanin. They person the height."

Lucia Janosova, a casting cause astatine First Model Management, tells the BBC: "Of people they are beautiful... beauteous skin, the height."

However, she says she is unsure precisely wherefore manner brands question retired South Sudanese models implicit different nationalities.

"I'm not capable to archer you due to the fact that determination are tons of girls who are besides beauteous and they are from Mozambique, oregon Nigeria, oregon antithetic countries, right?" Ms Janosova adds.

Akur Goi, a South Sudanese exemplary who has worked with designers similar Givenchy and Armani, has a theory.

She believes South Sudanese models are successful request not conscionable for their carnal beauty, but for their "resilience" too.

Goi was calved successful Juba but arsenic a kid she moved to neighbouring Uganda, similar Akol and hundreds of thousands of different South Sudanese.

Many fled successful the years aft 2011, erstwhile South Sudan became autarkic from Sudan.

There were precocious hopes for the world's newest nation, but conscionable 2 years aboriginal a civilian warfare erupted, during which 400,000 radical were killed and 2.5 cardinal fled their homes for places similar Uganda.

Although the civilian warfare ended aft 5 years, further waves of violence, earthy disasters and poorness mean radical proceed to leave.

Recently, warring betwixt authorities and absorption forces has escalated - sparking fears the state volition instrumentality to civilian war.

After leaving a war-weary South Sudan for Uganda, Goi's "biggest dream" was to go a model.

Fantasy became world conscionable past year, erstwhile she was scouted by agents via Facebook. For her precise archetypal job, she walked for Italian manner elephantine Roberto Cavalli.

"I was ace excited and acceptable for my archetypal season... I was truly tense and frightened but I said to myself: 'I tin marque it' - due to the fact that it was a dream," Goi says, speaking to the BBC from Milan, having flown retired for a occupation astatine the past minute.

But immoderate South Sudanese models person had much tumultuous journeys.

An probe by British paper the Times recovered that 2 refugees surviving successful a campy successful Kenya were flown to Europe lone to beryllium told they were excessively malnourished to look connected the runway.

After completing modelling jobs, respective others were informed that they owed their agencies thousands of euros - arsenic immoderate contracts specify that visas and flights are to beryllium repaid, usually erstwhile the models commencement earning money.

Akol says she encountered a akin issue. When she was scouted successful 2019, the bureau successful question asked her to fork retired for galore fees - fees which she present knows agencies bash not usually request.

"I was asked for wealth for registration, wealth for this, for that. I couldn't negociate each that. I'm struggling, my household is struggling, truthful I can't negociate each that," she says.

Three years later, portion surviving successful Uganda, she was yet scouted by a much reputable agency.

Deng, who helps fledgling South Sudanese models nutrient portfolios, tells the BBC that immoderate person complained astir being paid for jobs successful clothes, alternatively than money.

Many models besides travel up against different situation - their family's cognition of their vocation choice.

"They didn't privation it and they don't privation it now," Akol, who present lives successful London, says of her ain relatives.

"But we [models] managed to travel up and say: 'We are [a] young country. We request to spell retired determination and conscionable people. We request to bash things that everyone other is doing.'"

Deng says those surviving successful municipality areas person go much open-minded, but immoderate South Sudanese liken modelling to prostitution.

Parents question the full conception - wondering wherefore their daughters would beryllium "walking successful beforehand of people", helium says.

Deng recalls a young pistillate helium was assisting who was astir to alert retired for her archetypal planetary job. Unhappy that she would beryllium modelling, the woman's household followed her to the airdrome and prevented her from getting connected the plane.

But, Deng says, the woman's relatives yet came astir and she has since modelled for a apical lingerie brand.

"This miss is really the breadwinner of the family. She's taking each her siblings to schoolhouse and cipher talks astir it arsenic a atrocious happening immoderate more," helium says.

He is "proud" to spot this exemplary - and others from South Sudan - connected the planetary signifier and though the manufacture cycles done trends, Deng does not judge South Sudanese models volition spell retired of fashion.

Goi agrees, saying determination is an "increasing request for diversity" successful fashion.

Akol excessively believes South Sudan is present to stay, stating: "Alek Wek has been doing it earlier I was calved and she is inactive doing it now.

"South Sudanese models are going to spell a agelong way."