We Love ... Alek Wek For Benetton

((  Written By: Nani Hapa  )) Proving that she's as fabulous today as she was when she first started her career in 1995, Sudanese model Alek Wek is flawless in Benetton's SS 13 campaign to support the UNHATE Foundation.  The UNHATE Foundation, which is founded by the Benetton Group, seeks to contribute to the creation of a new culture against hate, building on Benetton’s underpinning values.

Obakki: Dress To Make A Difference

((  Written By:  Nani Hapa  ))  The Obakki Foundation isn’t your typical non-profit—they fundraise through their fashion label Obakki Designs.  Self-described as 100% humanitarian, the company adds: "Obakki Designs absorbs all of the administrative fees, from business cards to travel expenses, so that 100% of all public donations and 100% of net profits generated from Obakki sales can go directly to our humanitarian projects."  For their latest collection, Obakki teamed up with South Sudanese models Ajak, Atong, Ajang, Mari and Nyamuoch to promote a capsule collection of 10 pieces.  Below are a couple of our favorite pieces from the capsule collection.

First Act: Watch These Three Movies With Strong African Female Leads Available On DVD Now

((  Written By:  Staff Writer  ))  When we set out to find movies that were out on DVD now with story lines featuring strong African female leads, we were pleasantly surprised to find I Am Slave, Pray The Devil Back To Hell, and Desert Flower.  Read on to learn about these compelling movies.

1.  I Am Slave is a 2010 television film produced for the United Kingdom's Channel 4 based on the real-life experiences of Mende Nazer.  The movie unfolds with twelve-year-old Malia being kidnapped from her Sudanese village in the Nubar Mountains and sold into slavery to a woman in Khartoum, where she spends six years.  Malia is eventually sent to London, where her name is changed, but she remains enslaved until she finds a sympathetic stranger who she shares her story with. 

Supermodel Alek Wek Revisits Her Refugee Past To Commemorate The 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention

Written By: MIM!—Supermodel Alek Wek recently sat down with National Public Radio's Michel Martin to share her personal story about being a refugee to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention. Listen to her interesting and inspiring story on NPR's website.

(Photo Credits: © Printemps)

The Girls Of Benetton Spring Summer 2010: Atong Arjok And Ajak Deng

Written By: Nani Hapa—You're not seeing double: models Atong Arjok and Ajak Deng strike a stunning pose together in the Benetton Spring Summer 2010 campaign photographed by Josh Olins. Despite sharing a Sudanese heritage, the two supermodels who are both following in the steps of pioneer Alek Wek could not be more different. Fresh faced Ajak Deng is a relative newcomer to the fashion scene—she fled Sudan as a refugee, and immigrated to Australia, with dreams to one day rule the runway. Today, she is living her dreams: "This is freedom for me. I've got to do what I've always wanted to do and I thank God for that."

The striking Atong Arjok was born in the States (California), and discovered in Los Angeles. Having already been featured in ad campaigns for brands such as Sephora, Estee Lauder, and Target, walked the runway for designers such as Phillip Lim, Diane von Furstenberg, and Lacoste, and appeared in magazines such as Trace, Glamour, and Vogue Italia, there's no denying Atong has that "it" factor.

Combine these two striking Sudanese beauties, and the result is a stunning campaign! For more information, visit www.benetton.com.

(Photo Credits: Josh Olins / Benetton)

Alek Wek Is The New Face Of Banana Republic

Written By: Nani Hapa—There's a reason why MIMI considered Alek Wek so hot that she had to be included in this years Hot 21—simply, she's hot and not going anywhere anytime soon! Most recently, Alek, has been selected as the face of Banana Republic's Heritage Collection, which you can view at www.bananarepublic.com for a limited time, proving that she's got that "it" factor that will keep her in mainstream fashion for as long as she'd like to be in the game.

MIMI Related Links: MIMI's Hot 21: Alek Wek

(Photo Credits: Banana Republic)

The 21 Hottest Africans

Written By: Staff Writer—Buzzworthy talents from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Tanzania, Mali, Cape Verde, and Sierra Leone are represented in this year's Hot 21, which is published in MIMI's September 2009 issue.

The Globe For Darfur

Zambian actress Thandie Newton and Sudanese musician Emmanuel Jal are among a group of artists who are part of a campaign to raise awareness for The Globe For Darfur. The campaign The photos picture the actress and musician smashing hourglasses filled with fake blood to demonstrate that time is running out for the people of Darfur. To learn more about the campaign, visit www.globefordarfur.org

(Photo Credits: Jane Hodson)

Supermodel With A Voice: Alek Wek

Alek Wek has written an autobiography: Alek, From Sudanese Refugee to International Supermodel. Here's what her publishers have to say about the book:

Since the day she was scouted by a modeling agent while shopping at a London street fair when she was just nineteen, Alek Wek's life has been nothing short of a fantasy. When she's not the featured model in print campaigns for hip companies, or gracing the cover of Elle, she is working the runways of Paris, New York, and Milan to model for the world's leading designers, including Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel. But nothing in her early years prepared her for the life of a model.

Born in Wau, in the southern Sudan, Alek knew only a few years of peace with her family before they were caught up in a ruthless civil war that pitted outlaw militias, the Muslim-dominated government, and southern rebels against each other in a brutal conflict that killed nearly two million people. Here is her daring story of fleeing the war on foot and her escape to London, where her rise from young model to supermodel was all the more notable because of Alek's non-European looks.

A probe into the Sudanese conflict and an inside look into the life of a most unique supermodel, Alek is a book that will inspire as well as inform.

Sounds like this will be a good read; the book will be out on August 28th. Somalian model turned FMG activist Waris Dirie has also released a new book, Letter To My Mother. The book has only been released in a limited number of languages and a limited number of countries throughout Europe ... MIMI's hoping that an English translation will soon hit the bookshelvs.

MIMI Features Link: The Truth About FGM www.mimimagazine.com/october2005/01-07-fgm01.html