From Oluchi to Ajak – 12 Years after Oluchi’s breaththrough, Ajak Deng graces the Pre-Spring 2011 cover of i-D Magazine

It is hard to believe that it has been 12 years since Nigerian supermodel, Oluchi graced the cover of fashion magazine, i-D.
After winning the Face of Africa competition in 1998, Oluchi rapidly rose up the ranks when she landed a feature in Italian Vogue. Though it was when she was featured on the August 1999 cover/”The Audible Issue” of i-D magazine that many within the industry recognized that, it was not a fluke, Oluchi had truly arrived.

Fast forward to 2011, the world has changed so much since then, imagine that Ajak Deng was just 7 years old when Oluchi’s i-D cover hit the newsstands. 19 year old Senegalese/Australian model Ajak has seen her life transformed over the last 12 months, according to models.com, “Ajak was one of the breakout stars of the SS10 Paris shows, booking Chloe, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Lanvin” and she hasn’t looked back since then. Just a few years ago, she was a schoolgirl enjoying life in Australia after her family left Sudan as refugees headed for the UK and eventually settled in Melbourne, Australia.

In 2011, she was picked as one of the “new faces” by V Magazine and she featured in the “Gangs of New York” editorial shot by Mario Testino for the February 2011 Issue of American Vogue and now i-D has released the covers of their Pre-Spring 2011 Livin’ Loud Issue. There are six covers for this issue and Ajak features on one of the covers.

From Oluchi to Ajak - 1999 to 2011 - i-D Magazine

i-D Pre-Spring 2011 – Ajak Deng Cover – Credits
Photography: Emma Summerton
Fashion Director: Edward Enninful
Ajak wears
Top – John Galliano
Bra – Rokit
Earring – Shaun Leane

Photo Credit: i-D