Adut Akech is one of the biggest names in the fashion and modeling world.
She's on the cover of not one, but THREE September Vogue issues this month, and has walked for and done campaigns with countless powerhouse brands, like Chanel, Saint Laurent, Valentino, Givenchy, and Prada.
Well, the supermodel is now speaking out about issues within her industry after Australia's Who magazine misidentified her as another model — Flavia Lazarus — in a recent interview.
"Not only do I personally feel insulted and disrespected, but I feel like my entire race has been disrespected, too," the South Sudanese-Australian model said on Instagram.
"It goes to show that people are very ignorant and narrow-minded that they think every black girl or African [person] looks the same," Adut continued.
Adut ultimately called for more thorough fact checking and hopes that this incident is a "wakeup call" for fashion, modeling, and media professionals in Australia and beyond.
The post garnered a ton of co-signs and support from both non-models...
Adut Akech is one of the most well known models in the world. She was Karl Lagerfelds Couture Bride, has been on every major magazine cover in the world. A UN ambassador. Yet still, white writers still mistake her for other black women. This is racism. Here’s her must-read post.
...And models alike, including fashion icon Bethann Hardison and Adut's fellow Aussie supermodel Duckie Thot, who said "this has happened to [her] with another Australian paper," calling it "disrespectful and sad."
According to ABC, Melbourne Fashion Week's PR agency OPR released a statement in which they apologized and admitted to sending the magazine a file that contained "an incorrect image." MFW expressed their disappointment via Instagram.
The Lord Mayor of Melbourne also condemned the incident on Twitter, claiming it did not reflect the city's core values.
I will be meeting with Adut tonight, but I’d like to express my deepest apologies to her and offer whatever support we can provide. The response to the situation so far is unacceptable and we are talking to all parties to find a way to put this right.
For decades, black models have been speaking out against the mistreatment and discrimination they face throughout the industry. The power and reach of social media has helped to amplify those stories in recent years, but as Adut said, these predominantly white industries still got a looong way to go.
