Aya Jones N'Guessan (born 5 September 1994) is a French model.

Early life

Aya Jones was born from Ivorian father and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

mother. She grew up in the

11th arrondissement of Paris The 11th arrondissement of Paris (''XIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''onzième''. The arrondissement, called Popincourt, is situated on ...

where her family owns a restaurant. Growing up, she practiced

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

modern jazz Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

, and hip-hop. She was discovered by an agent who stopped her on the street, and led her to sign with her then-mother agency, The Lions.

Career

Her first fashion show was for

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...

for whom she was an exclusive at the Spring/Summer 2015

Milan Fashion Week Milan Fashion Week ( it, Settimana della moda) is a clothing trade show held semi-annually in Milan, Italy. The autumn/winter event is held in February/March of each year, and the spring/summer event is held in September/October of each year. It ...

. The following week, she was at

Paris Fashion Week Paris Fashion Week (french: Semaine de la mode de Paris) is a series of designer presentations held semiannually in Paris, France with spring/summer and autumn/winter events held each year. Dates are determined by the French Fashion Federation. ...

where she walked for designers including

Giambattista Valli Giambattista Valli is an Italian fashion designer. He is from Rome, Italy. His collections, both ready to wear and Haute couture are presented semi-annually during Paris Fashion Week. Early life Born and raised in Rome, Giambattista Valli complet ...

Miu Miu Miu Miu is an Italian high fashion women's clothing and accessory brand and a fully owned subsidiary of Prada. It is headed by Miuccia Prada and headquartered in Paris, France. History Miu Miu was established in 1992 by Miuccia Prada. The name ...

Viktor & Rolf Viktor & Rolf is a Dutch avant-garde luxury fashion house founded in 1993 by Viktor Horsting (born 1969, Geldrop) and Rolf Snoeren (born 1969, Dongen). For more than twenty years, Viktor & Rolf have sought to challenge preconceptions of fashion an ...

, Valentino,

and Nina Ricci.

Katie Grand Katie Grand (born April 1971) is a British stylist, creative director and fashion journalist. She founded the fashion magazine ''LOVE'' in 2009, followed by fashion bible and creative agency ''Perfect'' in 2020. Early life and education Katie ...

Edward Enninful Edward Kobina Enninful (born 22 February 1972) is an English editor-in-chief of British Vogue, British ''Vogue'' and European editorial director of Condé Nast. He was appointed a fashion director of British fashion magazine ''i-D'' at the ag ...

and

Bethann Hardison Bethann Hardison is an American fashion model and activist. Hardison is well known for being one of the first high profile black models after her appearance at the 1973 Battle of Versailles fashion show. She is also known for her activism on div ...

named her one of the best models of the season, British

fashion magazine Fashion journalism is a component of fashion media, with a focus on writing and photojournalism. Fashion journalists write about fashion events, trends and have to cultivate and maintain a relationship with stylists and designers. A fashion jour ...

i-D ''i-D'' is a British bimonthly magazine published by Vice Media, dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. ''i-D'' was founded by designer and former ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' art director Terry Jones (i-D), Terry Jones in 1980. The ...

'' placed her at the fourth position of their top 10 new faces of 2014, and ''

Interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

'' made her one of the 15 faces of 2015. She was photographed by

Steven Meisel Steven Meisel (born June 5, 1954) is an American fashion photographer, who obtained popularity and critical acclaim with his work in ''Vogue'' and ''Vogue Italia'' as well as his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book, ''Sex''. He is n ...

for

, advertising the brand's Pre-Fall 2015 collection alongside

Natalie Westling Nathan Westling (born June 1, 1996) is an American fashion model, and the star of the Spring 2014 Marc Jacobs & Saint Laurent Paris ad campaigns. His career began in 2014 when he had his hair dyed red for the Marc Jacobs campaign also featurin ...

, Willow Hand and

Julia Nobis Julia Nobis is an Australian fashion model and a bachelor of science & applied science student at RMIT. She is considered an "Industry Icon" by models.com and a supermodel by ''Vogue''. She has been on the cover of ''Vogue Italia'' six times. C ...

. According to '' Vanity Fair'', she was the 44th most influent French person in the world in 2015. She was also that same year one of the favorite models of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. She was on the cover of the August edition of ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since ...

'', which was titled "Meet the new faces of fashion". This cover made a lot of noise in the fashion industry because the three models featured on it are women of color, and it helps fighting the predominance of white models and the lack of diversity in the industry. She has been on many magazine covers since this one, including ''

Vogue Spain 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'', ...

'', which titled the cover "Black is beautiful". Jones was noticeably absent from 2017 fashion weeks, because of a jet ski accident in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

where she sustained multiple injuries. She punctured her lung and stomach and fractured her arm, pelvis, leg, and cranium. After a full year of recovery, she returned to modeling with an ad for Mango.

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Aya French female models 1994 births Living people The Lions (agency) models Elite Model Management models Prada exclusive models