Anok Yai Biography 2026: Age, Height, Boyfriend, Model Career, Prada, Victoria’s Secret & Net Worth

Anok Yai is an American fashion model who went from a college homecoming photograph to the front of a Prada runway in four months. Born in Cairo to a Sudanese family that had fled civil war, she grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire, and was studying biochemistry with plans to become a doctor when a street-style photographer asked to take her picture in October 2017. That image changed the direction of her life.

She is the second Black model, after Naomi Campbell, to open a Prada show, and the first Sudanese model to do so. Since then she has appeared on American Vogue three times, fronted campaigns for Estée Lauder and Mugler, been named Model of the Year by both models.com and the British Fashion Council, and been placed on the Time 100 list in 2026. Here is everything to know about her age, height, family, career, health, awards, and net worth.

Quick Facts

Full Name	Anok Yai
Nick Name	Anok
Profession	Fashion model
Birth Date	December 20, 1997
Age	28 years 10 months old
Birth Place	Cairo, Egypt
Nationality	American (naturalized); born in Egypt to a South Sudanese family
Known For	Opening Prada Fall/Winter 2018; Estée Lauder; American Vogue; Victoria’s Secret
Ethnicity	South Sudanese (Dinka)
Zodiac	Sagittarius
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	Not publicly disclosed
Hair Color	Brown
Eye Color	Brown
Education	Manchester High School West; Plymouth State University (biochemistry)
Religion	Christian (Dinka family)
Marital Status	Not publicly disclosed
Boyfriend	Not publicly disclosed
Children	None publicly known
Family	Mother is a nurse; father works for Easterseals; sister Alim is her manager
Agencies	IMG Models; No Smoking (New York); SAFE Management (Paris)
Current Work	Runway, campaign, and editorial work; film debut in Michael 2

Anok Yai is usually mentioned alongside Naomi Campbell, Adut Akech, Bella Hadid, Kaia Gerber, Imaan Hammam, and Paloma Elsesser — the models who defined the late-2010s and 2020s runway era. Fans also search for her with Prada, Estée Lauder, Mugler, Victoria’s Secret, and Steve Hall, the photographer who discovered her.

Early Life & Education

Anok Yai was born on December 20, 1997, in Cairo, Egypt. Her family is Dinka, a South Sudanese ethnic group, and they had left Sudan after fleeing the genocide of the Second Sudanese Civil War. She was three years old when the family moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, where she grew up as the child of two working parents: her mother is a nurse and her father works for Easterseals.

Her path was academic rather than artistic. She graduated from Manchester High School West and enrolled at Plymouth State University, where she studied biochemistry with the intention of going to medical school. Modeling was not part of the plan, and by her own account she had no interest in fashion as a teenager. She was, in the most literal sense, recruited off the street.

Her sister Alim, who is now her manager and a financial consultant, has been part of the business side of her career from the beginning. That family structure matters: Yai entered an industry with notoriously loose protections for young models, and she entered it with someone she trusted handling the contracts.

Career Journey

2017: The Photograph That Changed Everything

In October 2017, during Howard University’s homecoming week, photographer Steve “theSUNK” Hall asked to take Yai’s picture. She was visiting friends, not attending a casting. He posted the image on Instagram and it gathered more than 20,000 likes, which in 2017 was enough to turn a stranger into a story.

Agencies began reaching out, including IMG Models. She eventually signed with Next Model Management, which had called her daily for several weeks. Four months after the photograph was posted, she was opening a Prada show in Milan — an almost unheard-of ascent, and one that made her an instant reference point in conversations about race and casting in fashion.

2018–2021: Prada, Estée Lauder, and the Editorial Years

Opening Prada Fall/Winter 2018 made her the first Sudanese model to open a Prada show and the second Black model, after Naomi Campbell, to do so. The distinction carried weight: Prada had gone two decades without a Black model opening its runway, and Yai’s appearance became a test case for whether the industry’s talk about diversity matched its casting.

What she said about it at the time is still the clearest statement of her position. “It was an honor and I’m proud that I was the one chosen to open, but this is bigger than me,” she told Vogue. “Me opening for one of the top fashion houses is a statement to the world — especially for Black women — that their beauty is something that deserves to be celebrated.”

The work came quickly after that. She appeared in the Prada Spring/Summer 2018 campaign and a Nike campaign designed by Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci, then walked for Versace, Max Mara, Fendi, Burberry, and Louis Vuitton. In July 2018 she was named an Estée Lauder spokesmodel, one of the most prestigious beauty contracts in the industry, and in December she appeared in Alexander Wang’s “Collection 1” Drop 2 campaign.

By 2019 she was a cover model: AnOther, CR Fashion Book, PRINT, W, and multiple international editions of Vogue, including Korea, Italy, Brazil, and Japan. She also appeared in a short film for the Chanel-Pharrell collection alongside Adut Akech and Alton Mason. In 2020 she modeled Versace’s Resort “Flash 2021” campaign and Alexander McQueen’s Fall/Winter 2020 campaign, photographed by Jamie Hawkesworth, and added Japanese, German, Dutch, and American Vogue covers.

The 2021 slate was equally heavy: Ambush’s Spring/Summer campaign shot by Ethan James Green, the lead in Hood By Air’s “02 PROLOGUE” campaign, and a Yves Saint Laurent Winter 2021 advertisement photographed by Juergen Teller. In September 2021 she shared an American Vogue cover with Ariel Nicholson, Bella Hadid, and Kaia Gerber.

2022–2024: Supermodel Status and Mugler

In 2022 she shot two Spring/Summer campaigns with Steven Meisel — Max Mara and Alexander McQueen — and modeled for Loro Piana in a shoot by Mario Sorrenti. She reunited with Meisel for Tiffany & Co.’s Rose Gold Eau de Parfum campaign, appeared on the February 2022 cover of British Vogue with an all-Black cast of models, and landed the September 2022 cover of W for the magazine’s 50th anniversary, on which she was described as a supermodel.

2023 brought a Vogue tribute cover to Karl Lagerfeld photographed by Annie Leibovitz, plus covers for Vogue Spain, Vogue Italy, and i-D. She appeared in Lil Yachty’s “Say Something” music video and opened her first Mugler runway show during Paris Fashion Week, a booking that Vogue Australia singled out when it ranked her among the best-dressed supermodels of the season. In December 2023, models.com gave her both the industry vote and the reader’s choice award for Model of the Year, Women+.

In 2024 she walked the Louis Vuitton Men’s Fall/Winter show during Paris Fashion Week, appeared in Travis Scott’s “I KNOW?” video, and became the face of Alien Hypersense, a new Mugler fragrance. She also appeared in Offset’s “Swing My Way” video. The fragrance contract was a significant marker: Mugler had become the house most closely associated with her runway identity, and the campaign made that relationship official.

2025–2026: Model of the Year, Time 100, and a Health Crisis

In December 2025, the British Fashion Council named her Model of the Year, the British fashion industry’s highest individual honor for a model. It capped a decade of work that had moved from a viral photograph to a genuinely established career, with campaign, editorial, and runway credits across the major luxury houses.

That same month, she disclosed something far more serious. On Instagram she wrote that “for the past year I’ve been dealing with this silent battle,” and explained that she had “incidentally found out I had a congenital defect overworking my heart and slowly destroying my lungs.” She underwent robotic lung surgery in mid-December 2025, performed by Dr. Robert Cerfolio, and thanked him and his team for “giving [her] more time.”

In January 2026 she developed sepsis after the operation and was rushed to the hospital for what Page Six reported as a “difficult, life-saving procedure.” She was expected to make a full recovery, and by the spring she was back on the runway and at the Met Gala. In 2026 she was also named to the Time 100 list and walked the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in October, where her fully covered runway look became one of the show’s most discussed moments.

She is also preparing a move into film. Her debut role is Naomi Campbell in Michael 2, the second part of the Michael Jackson biopic — a fitting first part for a model whose career has been defined by the lineage of Black women on runways.

Career Stats

Years Active	2017–present
Discovery	October 2017, Howard University homecoming, photographed by Steve “theSUNK” Hall
Breakthrough	Opening Prada Fall/Winter 2018 — first Sudanese model, second Black model after Naomi Campbell
American Vogue Covers	Three
Beauty Contract	Estée Lauder spokesmodel (from July 2018)
Fragrance	Face of Mugler Alien Hypersense (2024)
Model of the Year	models.com Women+ (2023); British Fashion Council (2025)
Film	Michael 2 as Naomi Campbell (debut)

Personal Life

Yai is private in a way that is unusual for a model of her profile. She posts work, not relationships, and she has never publicly confirmed a partner. That is a deliberate boundary rather than an absence of information, and it is worth stating plainly: there is no verified public record of her dating life.

• Family: Her mother is a nurse and her father works for Easterseals; her sister Alim is her manager and a financial consultant.
• Faith: She comes from a Dinka Christian family.
• Home: She grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire, and works between New York and Paris.
• Health: She was born with a congenital heart defect that went undiagnosed for years and required surgery in December 2025.
• Privacy: She does not discuss relationships or her personal life in interviews.
• Advocacy: She has spoken about representation for Black women in fashion, particularly in casting decisions.

Dating History and Affairs

There is no publicly documented dating history. Yai has not confirmed a relationship with anyone, has never announced an engagement, and does not bring partners to industry events. Reports that link her romantically to other public figures should be treated as unverified unless she or her representatives confirm them.

What is documented is her professional circle: her sister Alim manages her career, and her closest working relationships are with photographers such as Steven Meisel and Steve Hall, and with the designers who have cast her. She has described her family as the stable center of a life that involves constant travel.

Controversies

Yai has not been involved in a personal scandal. The debates around her have been about the fashion industry rather than about her conduct, and the biggest of them started with her first major booking: whether one Black model opening a Prada show represented progress or a gesture that cost the industry nothing.

That argument followed her for years, and she has consistently framed her position as bigger than herself rather than as a personal triumph. When she was criticized for accepting certain bookings, or when her comments about representation were read as pressure on individual designers, she has generally declined to turn it into a feud.

The other recurring controversy is aesthetic. Her Victoria’s Secret appearance in October 2026, in a fully covered outfit, divided fans who expected the show’s traditional lingerie styling. The discussion was really about what a modern runway body is allowed to look like — and Yai, as usual, did not respond publicly.

Awards & Achievements

• Prada Fall/Winter 2018: First Sudanese model and second Black model, after Naomi Campbell, to open a Prada show.
• Estée Lauder, 2018: Named a spokesmodel, one of the industry’s most significant beauty contracts.
• models.com Model of the Year, 2023: Won both the industry vote and the reader’s choice award for Women+.
• British Fashion Council Model of the Year, 2025: Won.
• Time 100, 2026: Named one of the most influential people in the world.
• American Vogue: Three covers, including the September 2021 group cover.
• W magazine, 2022: Covered the 50th-anniversary issue and was described as a supermodel.
• Mugler: Opened her first Mugler show in 2023 and became the face of Alien Hypersense in 2024.

Physical Statistics

Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	Not publicly disclosed
Hair Color	Brown
Eye Color	Brown
Build	Tall, slender, long-limbed
Distinguishing Features	Deep-set eyes, high cheekbones, a distinctive walk
Shoe Size	Not publicly disclosed

Her height of 1.78 meters is listed by her agencies and is the only measurement she has effectively confirmed. Runway casting favors that specific proportion — tall enough for the clothes to hang correctly, with the kind of posture that reads at the back of a runway — and it is a large part of why she was able to move from a photograph to a Prada opening so quickly.

Quotes

“It was an honor and I’m proud that I was the one chosen to open, but this is bigger than me. Me opening for one of the top fashion houses is a statement to the world — especially for Black women — that their beauty is something that deserves to be celebrated.”

Anok Yai, Vogue, 2018

“For the past year I’ve been dealing with this silent battle.”

Anok Yai, Instagram, December 2025

“I incidentally found out I had a congenital defect overworking my heart and slowly destroying my lungs.”

Anok Yai, Instagram, December 2025

Favorites

• Favorite Designer House: Mugler, which cast her to open its show in 2023 and made her the face of Alien Hypersense.
• Favorite Photographer: Steven Meisel, who shot her Max Mara, Alexander McQueen, and Tiffany campaigns.
• Favorite City: Paris, where much of her runway career has been built.
• Favorite Subject: Science — she studied biochemistry before modeling.
• Favorite Cause: Representation and casting equity for Black women in fashion.
• Favorite Food and Color: Not publicly disclosed.

Earnings

Yai’s earnings are not public. Her income comes from runway bookings, campaign contracts, editorial work, and beauty and fragrance deals. The Estée Lauder spokesmodel role and the Mugler Alien Hypersense campaign are the kind of long-term contracts that generate more reliable income than individual shows, and models at her level typically combine both.

Estimates of her net worth generally fall between $3 million and $6 million as of 2026. That range is an unconfirmed estimate rather than a disclosed figure. Her film debut in Michael 2 and continued campaign work should add to it.

Interesting Facts

• She was discovered during Howard University’s homecoming week in October 2017.
• She opened a Prada show four months later, with no prior modeling experience.
• She was studying biochemistry and planned to become a doctor.
• She is the first Sudanese model to open a Prada show.
• She has appeared on American Vogue three times.
• She was named Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council in December 2025.
• She was born in Cairo after her family fled the Second Sudanese Civil War.
• She underwent robotic lung surgery in December 2025 and survived sepsis in January 2026.
• She plays Naomi Campbell in Michael 2.

Did You Know Already?

• Her sister Alim is her manager.
• She was named to the Time 100 list in 2026.
• She walked the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in October 2026.
• She appeared in music videos for Lil Yachty, Travis Scott, and Offset.
• She became an Estée Lauder spokesmodel in July 2018, less than a year after being photographed.
• She shared a September 2021 American Vogue cover with Bella Hadid and Kaia Gerber.

Social Media Links

• Instagram: @anokyai
• IMDb: Anok Yai
• X (Twitter): No verified active account
• Official Website: None

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Anok Yai’s career is often told as a fairy tale about a photograph, which undersells what actually happened. A biochemistry student was handed an opportunity that most models spend years auditioning for, and she converted it into a decade of work with the most demanding houses in fashion. The Prada opening was the beginning of the story, not the whole of it.

The last two years have added a different kind of weight. She has spoken about a congenital heart defect, surgery, and sepsis with the same composure she brings to a runway, and she has kept working through it. Whether she ends up in front of a camera, on a runway, or in a hospital corridor explaining her own health to strangers, she has been consistent about one thing: the work is bigger than the individual moment.

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