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Tallest runway model7/22/2023 ![]() Fast forward a few years, she’s now the face of Yves Saint Laurent’s newest cosmetics collection, and she currently graces the first cover of Vogue Arabia of the year. Hailing from Azilal in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Oulhaj has been inspired by her culture’s rich fashion heritage since she was a young girl, rifling through magazine pages and family photo albums. While facing difficulty making a name in the industry back from his hometown, East Jerusalem – a sad reality for many aspiring Arab models whose countries' politics are far from stable – he later moved to Berlin where he was signed to a prominent agency – Iconic Management. įeaturing on Versace, Diesel, and Hugo Boss lookbooks is Palestinian model Qaher Harhash, who’s been credited as the first Palestinian male model in modern history. Photo courtesy of Julien Tell for Highsnobiety. She’s also been on the cover of British Vogue and Vogue Arabia, and has been chosen as one of the world’s top 50 models on proving her place in the international modeling scene and as one of the most promising new faces of the industry. Now signed to the global model network (the largest in the world) Elite Models, Kontar has appeared on the covers of magazines such as L’Officiel Homme and Man About Town.Ģ0-year-old Moroccan-British fashion model Nora Attal has already – at the start of her career – proven herself as a force to be reckoned with on the runway, walking for the likes of Chanel, Alexander McQueen, and Dior. Ī dancer-turned-model, 23-year-old Syrian Ahmed Kontar has come a long way from Soueida, the small city where he used to play sports, long before war erupted in his country. Photos courtesy of Siampaolo Sgura for Man About Town. Ģ2-year-old Tunisian model Azza Slimene has joined Hammam as one of the very few Arab models to walk for Chanel (at Paris Fashion Week in 2018), and has already signed with NEXT Models Paris, Milan, and New York’s The Lions, some of the foremost modeling agencies in the world. Photo courtesy of Aaron Lippman for V Magazine. She later scored a spot on a Paco Rabanne campaign, and has started walking runways ever since. This Saudi model, often heralded as a Winnie Harlow doppelgänger, hails from Mecca and has made waves across the world with her distinct look and unconventional story, which began with a make-up artist looking for a girl who had “the same skin condition as Harlow” – vitiligo, the loss of pigment in certain patches of the skin – and ended with her being on a Vogue Arabia cover with the Canadian femme. ![]() As a North African Arab model, I’m trying to open doors for more Arab girls." “I want to be a role model for young girls who are struggling with racism or with their looks or skin color,” she says. Imaan Hammam is right now, one of the most famous models of Middle Eastern descent the Dutch-Egyptian-Moroccan model has featured on three American Vogue covers, and garnered almost a million followers on her Instagram, which she uses as a platform to embrace her Arab heritage. Photo courtesy of Ethan James for WSJ Magazine. Photo courtesy of Patrick Demarchelier for Vogue China. Modelling was something which only ten years ago was a rarity for Arabs and now, they are booking shows, and breaking boundaries. So we’ve gathered a few of the biggest names who have been changing the face of the industry in the past few years, and look like they will definitely continue to do so for years to come. When it comes to Arab models, everyone knows the Gigis and the Bellas of the world, and even the Halimas but there's a whole new slew of up-and-coming talents who are starting to make it big. The overwhelmingly white beauty standards have been on many incidents exclusionary, and prevent many aspiring models - who come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and crucially, ethnicities - from visibility and recognition. The specificity of the criteria with which models are often chosen for international brands, magazines, and modeling agencies, has often ventured into the arena of problematic for the longest time, the traditional definition of 'model' included fair complexions, incredibly skinny and tall figurines, and – quite often – blonde hair. ![]() It is no secret that the modeling industry has, for decades, been Euro-centric and severely lacking in diversity.
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