Alek Wek

Alek Wek on the cover of Elle, November 1997 Wek, who fled Sudan's civil war as a child and was scouted at an outdoor market in Crystal Palace, London, in 1995, is widely cited as the first African model on the cover of Elle. Gilles Bensimon shot her in white against white for the November 1997 issue of American Elle, and the cover drew a flood of positive reader mail alongside some hostile letters. Her dark skin and close-cropped hair were the opposite of the era's commercial ideal, so the milestone was less about a first face than a first look: it proved a model need not be lightened, styled or softened to sell a magazine.