Meet 18-Year-Old Adut Akech, a Former Kenyan Refugee Who Has Taken Australia Beauty Industry by Storm

A former refugee in Kenya, Adut Akech Bior has made her name in the Australian beauty industry at the age of 18.

South Sudan-born Akech was raised at Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya before she moved to Adelaide, Australia alongside her mother.

She made her debut as a model in 2017, a few months after she graduated from high school in Adelaide.

CNN describes Akech as a globe-trotting supermodel shuttling across major global cities including New York.

Recalling her life at the Kenyan refugee camp 10 years later, Akech says: "Certain vivid memories linger: the scorching yet still comforting heat of the African sun, the rich brown color of Kenyan land... and most of all, the carefree laughter and pitter-pattering footsteps from children like myself, never ceasing as we danced in our own little universes."

"As I ran through the grounds of the camp day after day, I remember being met with smile after smile," she adds.

She says that her aunt is the person behind what she has become today.

"A long plane ride landed us in southern Australia, where my aunt, who painstakingly petitioned for our future in this new home called Adelaide, welcomed us with open arms," she notes.

Last year, she became the second black model to close the Chanel Haute Couture Fall 2018 show in Paris, France.

She has also featured in several editions of Vogue Magazine in Italy, Korea and the United Kingdom in addition to appearing in major advertising campaigns in the beauty industry.

"My career as a model makes me a nomad by default. My home is now in multiple places around the world, my life is an arrow constantly pointing forward," she says about her life in the beauty industry.