Alek Wek is more than a supermodel

updated 3:09 p.m. ET Oct. 25, 2005

NEW YORK - The runway is the fastest route for Alek Wek to get where she’s going.

The stunning supermodel known for her short hair, dark skin and bright smile has strode the catwalks of some of the world’s top fashion houses.

She calls Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Paul Gaultier and Dries Van Noten friends, and solicited advice from such designers during the early stages of launching her handbag company, Wek1933, named after the year her father was born.

Wek also has a great wardrobe.

“Maybe I do have a few more dresses, but I’m just like everyone else. I have a favorite raggedy dress, and I have a Dior, a Gucci, a Dries Van Noten, but that’s after more than five years of being in their shows!” she told The Associated Press over tea at Manhattan’s Splashlight Studios.

On this day, she’s wearing an orange top, light-wash jeans and an animal-print scarf around her head.

Walking in stilettos for so many years — she was discovered at a London art school after emigrating to Britain at age 14 — hasn’t affected her balance: She successfully juggles the demands of her career, family — she has eight siblings — and charity.

“Pressure only makes you sick. You won’t get anything positive out of it,” she said.

Heart belongs to Africa
Wek was born in southern Sudan in 1977 and raised as part of the Dinka tribe. She fled with two of her sisters during the country’s civil war, and was reunited with her mother and other siblings two years later.

She now carries a British passport, but Wek’s not sure if she’d call London, where her mother lives, or Brooklyn, where she has a town house, her home. (Her unusual accent falls somewhere between Britain and Brooklyn.)

Her heart, though, belongs to Africa. Wek is a partner of Doctors Without Borders in its Bracelet of Life campaign that highlights malnutrition in Sudan and is an advisory board member for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.

AP: What was your first fashion show?

Wek: It was in London for Red or Dead. I wore hot pants and cowboy boots and I thought, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’

AP: Are you worried about getting older in an industry that values youth?

Wek: I feel 18. I’m trying to grow older with wisdom.

AP: Do you have a glamorous life?

Wek: Fashion shows are glamorous for 20 minutes. ... I am always aware how beautiful and special the clothes are. Someone’s mom or sister made them and it might have taken six months.