From the refugee camp in Kenya to the catwalks of New York, Milan and the like: our cover model Mary Ukech has had a stellar career. Instead of resting on her laurels, she prefers to help her community: the Ukech Charity Foundation supports the residents of the Kakuma Refugee Camp with educational resources and emotional support.
Things really took off in 2023: Mary Ukech strutted up and down one runway after another, including for Jason Wu, Gabriela Hearst, Dion Lee and Simkhai. She can now add fashion greats such as Miu Miu, Bottega Veneta, Hermès and Versace to her CV and has become an integral part of fashion weeks.
Mary would never have dreamed of this future a few years ago. Her parents fled from South Sudan to Kakuma Refugee Camp in north-western Kenya in 2000, when she was just a few months old. In a personal essay, Mary describes the difficulties of growing up in a refugee camp. She talks about physical and mental abuse, sexual assault, a lack of medical care and war trauma. There was a little hope: At least she was able to attend school in the camp. It was also there that her passion for modeling was ignited: at a catwalk competition. She never felt beautiful enough to model before, she tells Vogue.
Between catwalk and charity work
The modeling dream was born, but Mary still started training first and studied clinical child neuropsychology in Nairobi. Inspired by the stories she experienced in the refugee camp, she wanted to focus her future career primarily on pregnant women and children. But then the fashion world came knocking: Mary was discovered by the agency Skimmer Models Africa. Her studies were put on hold while she wanted to explore the modeling world for a few months – months that eventually turned into years. Despite the glamor of the fashion world, she has not left her life in Kenya behind. She founded the Ukech Charity Foundation, whose aim is to support the people in the Kakuma Refugee Camp and the Kaloboyei Settlement. The focus is on access to education and emotional support. Particularly vulnerable people such as girls, pregnant women and people with disabilities are looked after by the Ukech Charity Foundation.
Mary wants to show people that a self-determined future is possible. You can end up on a magazine cover, for example: Mary has already been on Japanese Vogue and Le Monde Magazine. And now also on our March cover. Mary is wearing an Etro dress from the spring-summer collection.
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Here you can learn more about Mary Ukech’s Charity Foundation.
Teaser photo & photos: © Launchmetrics SpotlightSM
