The African d ime who lights up the runway
Eager to chase the dream of being one of the top African models, Anyon Asola went against her family’s wishes of being an accountant to pursue a career in modelling and, three years later, she’s strutting the New York runway, writes
ANYON Asola is a South Sudanese model, with molasses glowing dark skin, who took the South African modelling industry by storm with her unique catwalk. She first came onto the scene in 2016 after being scouted by prominent local designer, David Tlale. Asola was different from all the other models and the way she walked proved that she is going places.
Meeting Asola for the first time at the AFI Joburg Fashion Week in 2017 felt so unreal. Here was someone we could easily refer to as a future African supermodel, someone who had shaken up the modelling scene and has become the favourite of many designers.
I finally got the chance to know her when she agreed to have a sit down with me on a recent sunny Joburg afternoon.
Her interest in modelling grew when she was still at school in Uganda, where she was raised by her stepmother after her parents died.
“Everything was simple until I lost my parents at the age of 6 and that’s when I knew that life is really tough.
“In 2001, I moved to Uganda with my stepmom and started schooling there. People started seeing my talent in high school since I was a dancer and when modelling was introduced, I was encouraged to enter.
“After winning a modelling competition in 2013, I started doing more. I didn’t have an agency back then so I worked hard to get noticed.”
And noticed she was. It’s not everyday that you get spotted by one of the top designers on the continent and you don’t get to become a fashion star.
“I was scouted in 2016, during a David Tlale show in Uganda. He couldn’t stop taking pictures of my face and when Lydia Mbayo, of Fabulous Dot Com Models, said she wanted models from Uganda, Tlale showed her my pictures and they brought me to South Africa.
“And the rest is history.”
Moving from Uganda to pursue the dream of being one of Africa’s top models wasn’t easy. Her family was against it but she soldiered on and left everything behind to go for what she believed in.
“I ran away from home to pursue modelling. I told my family about it but they were not having it. They wanted me to finish school, as I was studying towards a Diploma in Accounting. But I wanted this so bad and, as I was secretly applying for my visa, I would hide all the documents under my bed,” she says.
When asked about how being disowned makes her feel, she said: “My family is still not happy with me up to this point. They don’t talk to me except for my grandmother and uncle. They are the only people who are supportive and happy that I’m doing something for myself.
“The fact that the rest of the family wants nothing to do with me, is what brings me the energy that I give to my work. When people see me walk on the runway and feel my energy, it’s because I want my family to know that this is something that I love.”
Like any other profession, being a model is not all glamorous. There are many challenges and, although Asola is a natural black beauty, the colour of her skin sometimes gets in her way.
“Going to shows and not having a foundation colour for my skin has always been a problem. Everyone needs make-up on set but, with me, it’s different. They would all want to work with me until they don’t know what to do with me. They would just do my eyes and add highlighter on my cheeks and be like ‘OMG your skin is beautiful you don’t need make-up,’ whereas there are also other models with beautiful skin, too, yet they do wear make-up,” says Asola.
Above everything, being a model has helped Asola rebuild her self-esteem and have confidence in herself.
With her kind personality of always wanting to help others, she feels that being a great model takes more than having the looks. It requires professionalism and respect.
Asola has worked with all South African top designers you can think of and also featured on Elle magazine, a dream she’s always had, ever since she was a child.
“One of my biggest career highlights is when I shot with Elle for the first time. It felt so unreal because when I was in Uganda, I used to be this little girl who dreamed of being on Elle – and suddenly, it was happening,” she says.
Asola has conquered South Africa and is now taking over New York.
She just landed a three-year contract with Muse NYC and recently debuted New York Fashion Week, where she had the honour of being the first model to walk out in the Maryam Nassir Zadeh and PRISCAVERA shows, which rarely happens in your first season.
That walk, her skin colour and her undeniable high fashion looks are sure to serve her well and, who knows, Asola might soon be a model we mention alongside Adut Akech, Herieth Paul and
Grace Bol.