After second snubbing for Model of the Year, Anok Yai tells British Fashion Council ‘I don’t want it anymore,’ sparking debate
For the second year in a row, supermodel Anok Yai was nominated for The Fashion Awards' Model of the Year but lost, airing her disappointment on social media.
When Anok Yai was photographed on “The Yard” at Howard University’s 2017 homecoming celebration, a fashion star was born. After agents clamored to discover the identity of the then-19-year-old beauty and competed to sign her, Yai became an international sensation; within the first six months of her career, she became the first Sudanese model and only the second Black model to open a Prada fashion show, behind Naomi Campbell. In the seven years since, the covers and accolades have continued rolling in, including her first American Vogue cover in 2020, leading Yai to be dubbed one of this generation’s “New Supers” — as in supermodels — by Models.com, which named her its “Model of the Year – Women” in 2023.
However, while Yai has succeeded on runways around the globe, there is one accolade that has eluded her, and now she says she no longer wants it. On Monday, as the British Fashion Council hosted The Fashion Awards 2024, Yai was once again nominated for the council’s Model of the Year, her second nomination in as many years. For the second time, Yai was passed over for the honor, which recognizes “the global impact of a model who, over the last 12 months, has dominated the industry,” explains the organization. “With an influence that transcends the catwalk, the Model of The Year has made an outstanding contribution to the industry, garnering numerous editorial and advertising campaigns throughout the year.”
After losing in 2023 to Paloma Elsesser, the first full-figured model to win the award, this year, the honor again passed Yai in favor of Alex Consani, the first transgender winner in the award’s history. While heartily congratulating her friend and industry colleague on the groundbreaking achievement, which was partially decided by public votes, Yai didn’t bother hiding her disappointment.
“Alex, I love you and I’m so proud of you,” she wrote on X early Tuesday morning, adding, “British Fashion Council, thank you but I don’t want it anymore.”
As some accused Yai of having sour grapes over her subsequent losses, others, like Teen Vogue associate editor Aiyana Ishmael, argue that the model’s disappointment and self-advocacy should simply be considered reflections of her humanity.
“When we ask ourselves why we want Yai to take her loss quietly, we have to simultaneously ask if it’s a response to society’s expectations of Black women,” Ishmael wrote, quoting author and executive coach Janice Sutherland’s commentary on stereotypes that center on Black women’s “perceived strength and resilience. “While these qualities are undoubtedly empowering, they should not be wielded as reasons to deny Black women the space to express vulnerability, pursue evolving aspirations, or seek the support we need without judgment,” Sutherland notes.
It’s also worth noting that, in recent years, Yai has become more vocal in addressing her discomfort with an industry that has frequently exoticized Black women and siphoned from Black culture while simultaneously trafficking in career-crushing racism, discrimination and colorism. As previously reported by theGrio, in May 2024, the now 26-year-old Yai recounted a disturbing and racially charged experience from early in her modeling career.
“I remember in 2019 being called a cockroach by a photographer,” she claimed in a now-deleted thread on X. Feeling unable to react as others on set treated the insult as a joke, Yai recalled feeling as if “I can’t react the way I want to react because at the end of the day, I’m young, I’m alone, I’m Black…anything that I do will affect me, my family and other Black models.”
With that context in mind, Yai’s disappointment at not being recognized for her achievements might simply be taken at face value, rather than interpreted as an attempt to undercut the achievements of Model of the Year winner Consani. Yai said as much in a second post, writing: “If you have seen the effort that I’ve seen Alex put in; you would understand how proud I am of her. But Alex can be proud and I can be exhausted at the same time. It doesn’t take away how much love we have for each other.”
As a member of a marginalized community herself, Consani no doubt empathizes. In fact, she used her acceptance speech on Monday night to acknowledge “the Black trans women who really fought for the space I’m in today” and thank “Dominique Jackson, Connie Fleming, Aaron Rose Phillips and countless more” for making her own rise in the industry possible.
“Now, more than ever, it’s an important conversation that should be had about how to truly support and uplift one another within this industry, especially those who have been made to feel insignificant,” Consani continued. “Because change is more than possible — it’s needed.”
Slowly but surely, there is change afoot, as evidenced by the strong Black representation among this year’s Fashion Award honorees. Winning designers included Grace Wales Bonner (British Menswear Designer) and Priya Ahluwalia (New Establishment Menswear), while special awards were given to A$AP Rocky (BFC Cultural Innovator) and Issa Rae (The Pandora Leader of Change). Photographer Tyler Mitchell was also recognized, winning the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator.
As for Yai, she may no longer seek validation from the British Fashion Council, but she doesn’t have to look further than The Yard to find it. The supermodel returned to the site where she was discovered for Howard’s 2024 Homecoming celebration, “Yardfest,” much to the delight of current students.
“I am a Black trans woman, and there’s not a lot of representation,” McKenzie Cooper-Moore, a junior marketing major and rising model, told Howard’s newspaper, The Hilltop. “She’s one of the top models right now, being a Black woman and being unapologetically Black. That’s really cool. I really do look up to her.”
More About:Lifestyle
You Might Like
