Never underestimate the power of a dress. In black Versace with gold safety pins Elizabeth Hurley went from being Hugh Grant’s plus one to instant stardom in 1994. A red Ruth Tarvydas gown at the 2004 Brownlow Medal Ceremony launched Rebecca Judd toward influencer supremacy. For Australian Ajok Madel, 22, a fantasy pink gown by Valentino in Paris at the haute couture shows has cleared the way for the term super to sit in front of her model status.

Madel’s moment at the centre of fashion’s searing spotlight, happened seven years after she made the decision to pursue modelling while working at McDonald’s in Perth. Born in a Kenyan refugee camp following the death of her father in the South Sudanese conflicts, Madel’s family moved to Western Australia in 2008.

The rise through the crowded modelling ranks was slow and steady, with Camilla advertisements and local fashion shoots, before moving to New York where campaigns for Tom Ford, Tory Burch and the cover of Vogue Thailand waited. Now with one dress, a climb up the rankings of industry assessor’s Model.com’s Top 50 list is assured.

Australian model Ajok Madel walks in the Valentino haute couture, spring/summer 2022 show in Paris.

“It has been a lot of hard work,” Madel says from London, where she is preparing for her next fashion shoot. “I keep on pushing myself to do better and make sure that I cherish every important moment as it happens.”

Dressed for excess at Schiaparelli haute couture, spring/summer 2022Credit:Getty

While working through the haute couture season, Madel also strutted in front of rapper Kanye West and his girlfriend Julia Fox for Schiaparelli, wearing a black coat resembling an ecclesiastical vestment, but the Valentino show stands out.

“It’s not just because of that beautiful dress that it’s a favourite.” Madel said. “It’s because the show was filled with models of all races, sizes and ages. Everyone was welcome and that means a lot to me.”

Following 57-year-old veteran Kirsten McMenamy across the white carpet of Valentino’s Place Vendôme studio, alongside sample-size resistant curve models Antoinette Walford and Apollo Yom, was a welcome move forward in an industry slowly accommodating diversity.

“Before I came along there seemed to be a lot of 16-year-olds who looked a certain way on the catwalk. Now it’s models of all ages and backgrounds. It’s absolutely changing.”

Madel’s career was nurtured by Perth’s resident star maker for models, Christine Fox at Vivien’s agency, who launched the careers of Gemma Ward and Nicole Trunfio who walked less diverse runways in the noughties.

In the beginning Madel was uncertain whether she could attain the same heights as her pale-skinned predecessors at the agency. When I cast Madel for a fashion shoot in 2019 she told me that one magazine gave her the motivation to aim high.

“I remember when I saw Akiima on the cover of Vogue Australia I was blown away,” Madel said of the April 2018 issue. “I had never seen an African woman on the cover of an Australian magazine.”

Change in the industry has cleared the way for the Australian models with South Sudanese heritage to increasingly dominate the runway, including reigning queen Adut Akech and rising star and Harper’s Bazaar Australia cover model Akon Changkou. Despite her growing fame Madel is keeping any rivalry well-hidden beneath her high-wattage smile.

“There are my key Aussies,” Madel said. “I did Valentino with Adut. They’re pretty much my sisters. Even in Paris there is nothing more beautiful than seeing another Australian, whether it’s a hairstylist, photographer or model. It makes me feel close to home. We can get together and complain about the coffee.”

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