Anok Yai

CTL-E-6141 · Person · other · 1997–present

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07356 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6141.

Anok Yai, born 20 December 1997 in Cairo, Egypt, is an American fashion model of South Sudanese descent. Born after her family fled genocide in Sudan, she moved at age three to Manchester, New Hampshire, graduated from Manchester High School West and studied biochemistry at Plymouth State University, intending to become a doctor. A photograph taken at Howard University's homecoming in October 2017 went viral, leading her to sign with Next Model Management. In February 2018 she opened the Prada show, becoming the first South Sudanese model to open for the house and the second Black model to do so, after Naomi Campbell in 1997. She has since walked and fronted campaigns for Versace, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Burberry and Mugler, appeared on multiple international Vogue covers including American Vogue three times, was named Models.com Model of the Year in 2023 and Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council in December 2025, and was named one of TIME's 100 most influential people in 2026.

Notes

Staged 2026-10-16 under CTL-GOV-006 (Census Intake Wave 6 — 747 Program, Wave 12; 27-record packet). Gate A (2026-10-16): no Anok Yai entity in the live graph at 3,843 entities (exact / normalized / alias + token containment); ID CTL-E-6141 assigned at assembly. Supply: 747 Supply Ledger, Tier 3 — Famous Birthdays ABSENT census, readiness rank 1814 (Models list). The census supplied the NAME ONLY; no fact in this record is sourced to it (CTL-GOV-004). SCOPE GATE: PASS — South Sudanese-American model: born in Cairo, Egypt to South Sudanese parents and raised in the United States, documented on the face of the British Fashion Council's Model of the Year announcement (5 Nov 2025) and in Wikipedia's account of her family fleeing genocide in Sudan. Vital status: LIVING — cover model of Vogue Brasil's October 2026 issue, published 10 Oct 2026, after walking the September–October 2026 fashion month (SatisFashion UG, 10 Oct 2026). STATISTICS (sourced, dated): second Black model, after Naomi Campbell, to open a Prada show, in Feb 2018, and the first South Sudanese model to open for the house (Wikipedia; NYC Tastemakers, 1 Aug 2026); Models.com Model of the Year 2023, Industry and Readers' Choice (Wikipedia); British Fashion Council Model of the Year, awarded 1 Dec 2025 (BFC announcement, 5 Nov 2025); named to TIME's 100 Most Influential People of 2026 (HelloBeautiful, Oct 2026). MEDIA: photo HELD (candidate: Wikimedia Commons photograph of Anok Yai in September 2019; no file page read at file-page level in this pass, so no image is cleared — CTL-PHOTO-001; a CTL-created graphic is the standing alternative); chart FILLED (charts/chart-ctl-e-6141-anok-yai.svg); video HELD (Shorts Link Map checked by name and variants — no matching-entity CTL Short); audio HELD (no rights basis). MEDIA LAYER (staged 2026-10-16; full per-asset PHOTO-001 records + embed specs in the packet's staged JSON, Drive packet folder): map = N/A (Person records carry no map slot under the media-layer rule; maps attach to places and institutions.) | visual_assets = HELD: | chart = FILLED (CTL-created SVG (black / deep red / gold) built only from this record's sourced facts) | video = HELD (No matching-entity CTL Short in the Shorts Link Map catalog (checked by name and variants), and no official/em) | audio = HELD (No CTL-owned or rights-cleared matching-entity audio at staging.)

Relationships

• Naomi Campbell — related to
  Yai was the second Black model to open a Prada show (February 2018), after Naomi Campbell (1997) — the documented succession that frames both records.

Sources

• British Fashion Council announcement via WebWire, 'Anok Yai to Receive Model of the Year Award at the Fashion Awards 2025 Presented by Pandora' (5 Nov 2025) — Yai, born in Egypt to South Sudanese parents and raised in the U.S., to be honoured as Model of the Year on 1 Dec 2025; cover of Vogue France and campaigns for Versace, Alaïa and Saint Laurent; face of Mugler's Alien fragrance — https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=346120 (primary source · build store)
• Wikipedia, 'Anok Yai' — born 20 December 1997, Cairo, Egypt, after her family fled genocide in Sudan; moved to Manchester, New Hampshire at age three; studied biochemistry at Plymouth State University; second Black model after Naomi Campbell to open a Prada show; American Vogue covers three times; TIME 100 in 2026 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anok_Yai (build store)
• HelloBeautiful, 'The Making Of An Icon: Anok Yai's Supermodel Era Is So Good' (Oct 2026) — British Fashion Council named Yai its 2025 Model of the Year; TIME named her one of its 100 Most Influential People of 2026, with a tribute by Chanel Iman; daughter of South Sudanese refugees — https://hellobeautiful.com/4603994/anok-yai/ (build store)
• SatisFashion UG, 'Anok Yai Blossoms on the October 2026 Cover of Vogue Brasil' (10 Oct 2026) — Yai returns to the cover of Vogue Brasil for its October 2026 issue, her second cover for the magazine; walked Gucci, Saint Laurent, Chanel and Schiaparelli in the preceding fashion month and closed Ferragamo in Milan and Balenciaga in Paris — https://satisfashionug.com/anok-yai-blossoms-on-the-october-2026-cover-of-vogue-brasil/ (build store)
• NYC Tastemakers, 'Anok Yai' (1 Aug 2026) — South Sudanese-American model, born in Cairo, Egypt, raised in Manchester, New Hampshire from age three; discovered from a Howard University homecoming photograph, signed with Next Model Management and became the first Sudanese model to open a Prada show — https://nyctastemakers.com/anok-yai/ (build store)

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Record CTL-E-6141 · Combined Graph record U-07356 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 5 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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