Celebrating Alek Wek

In celebration of South Sudanese/British supermodel Alek Wek's 37th birthday today, we've rounded up some of her best photographs and work from the countless editorials and magazine covers she's graced.  Wek's modeling career came up at a time when dark-skinned models were basically unheard of. She's largely credited as being the first black model that didn't conform to Western stereotypes of beauty and her influence is still felt today. Most recently, Lupita N'yongo mentioned Wek as a source of inspiration in her Essence speech about black beauty and self-perception. Scroll through our Alek Wek gallery above and if you want to talk about it, tweet @okayafrica with #alekwek.