Akon Changkou is an Australian model of South Sudanese heritage. She has appeared on the cover of '' British Vogue'', and is perhaps best known for working with

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...

Early life

Changkou was born in

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

and moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

with her family at age 9, as her uncle had emigrated in the 1990s. She has seven siblings.

Career

Although she was considered to be not tall enough to model by various agencies, once she signed with an agency they sent her to New York where casting director

Ashley Brokaw Ashley Brokaw (born 1973) is an American fashion casting director, known for her work with Italian luxury fashion house Prada. In 2015, ''The New York Times'' said she is "the person who is most responsible for what we think is beautiful." Ear ...

hired her for Louis Vuitton's Paris show. Having never walked on a runway before, she debuted as a

exclusive in 2020; after walking in five shows for the fashion house, she opened their 2022 show. In fall 2020, she appeared in an ensemble campaign featuring French actresses Léa Seydoux and Stacy Martin, and Korean model

Sora Choi Sora Choi (Korean: 최소라; born September 5, 1992) is a South Korean fashion model. She won the third cycle of the reality television show '' Korea's Next Top Model''. She currently ranks on models.com's "Industry Icons" list. Early li ...

among others. Changkou has walked the runways for Valentino, Nina Ricci,

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as w ...

Simon Porte Jacquemus Simon Porte Jacquemus (born 16 January 1990) is a French fashion designer and the founder of the Jacquemus fashion label. Early life Jacquemus was born in Salon-de-Provence, France into a relatively poor family of farmers; his father occasional ...

Lanvin Lanvin () is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Paris. Founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin, it is the oldest French fashion house still in operation. Since 2018, it has been a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Lanvin Group. Bruno Sialel ...

, Giambattista Valli, Salvatore Ferragamo,

Roberto Cavalli Roberto Cavalli (; born 15 November 1940) is an Italian fashion designer and inventor. He is known for exotic prints and for creating the sand-blasted look for jeans. The high-end Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli sells luxury clothing, perfu ...

, Jason Wu,

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds ...

, Fendi, and

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...

(for which she also has appeared in beauty campaigns, ). She has appeared on the cover of ''

Vogue France The French edition of ''Vogue'' magazine, formerly called ''Vogue Paris'', is a fashion magazine that has been published since 1920. History 1920–54 The French edition of ''Vogue'' was first issued on 15 June 1920, the first editor-in-chief ...

'', ''Vogue'' Hong Kong, ''Vogue'' Germany, and ''

Numéro ''Numéro'' is an international fashion magazine published by Paul-Emmanuel Reiffers. It has a circulation of 80,000, and the French edition reached its 100th issue in February 2009. The magazine covers international fashion, beauty, design, h ...

'' France. Models.com chose her as one of the "Top Newcomers" of the S/S 2021 season. For the October 2021 issue of ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', Changkou and American models Sherry Shi and Anok Yai traveled to the Fagradalsfjall volcano in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

for an editorial photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Changkou appeared on an "all black" cover of ''British Vogue'' alongside international models of African heritage including

Adut Akech Adut Akech Bior ( ; born 25 December 1999) is a South Sudanese-Australian model. Akech made her fashion week runway debut as an exclusive in the Saint Laurent S/S 17 show and went on to close both their F/W 17 and S/S 18 shows as an exclusive. I ...

Maty Fall Diba Maty Fall Diba, also known as Maty Fall, is a Senegalese-Italian fashion model. She is currently ranked as one of the Top 50 models by models.com. Early life Fall Diba was born in Senegal, where she lived in Ouest Foire, just north of Dakar. ...

, and

Anok Yai Anok Yai (; born December 20, 1997) is an American fashion model. She is the first South Sudanese model and the second black model after Naomi Campbell to open a Prada show. She has made several appearances on ''i-D'' and international ''Vogue ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Changkou, Akon Living people People from Adelaide Australian people of South Sudanese descent Australian models of South Sudanese descent Australian female models Louis Vuitton exclusive models Women Management models Elite Model Management models Year of birth missing (living people)