Alek Wek
When I talk, it shouldn't just be black girls listening.
I grew up in a small town in Sudan. There weren't many cars, so we did things in the countryside near where we lived.
When I was 14, I came to school in London. I remember it was very cold, but also having to adjust and become fluent in English.
You can feel very strongly that someone doesn't like you. I think any model who didn't have the same sort of upbringing as me would find that very difficult. But I absolutely knew I was entitled. I never thought I was ugly - it never crossed my mind.
When I started, I'd hear other people saying, 'God, she's so bizarre-looking,' because I didn't look like the girl next door. But I was just normal. I was the girl next door. There were people in high fashion I could better relate to who were doing something more interesting and not talking this sort of rubbish.
Going on safari in South Africa was hardcore but a lot of fun - though my friend Maura was absolutely freaking out about all the bugs in her hair and having to pee in the sand.
I like unique little boutique hotels, such as Blakes in London.
We survived on natural resources, so we should take care of the earth. When I leave home, I do things like switching off the heat and lights.
South Sudanese people are rich like the soil; they just need a little water, and they will grow.
I am so impressed by UNHCR staff who live and work side by side with the refugees. It's really remarkable.
When I first started working with World Vision, I would sit down and talk with them about issues that concern any part of the world. MSF told me about what was going on in North Korea. I also support AIDS and breast cancer charities.
I don't understand when people are being greedy or mean, when they say who should get what, when they get control of someone else's life.
My family is the most important thing to me.
If my mother hadn't encouraged me, I would be nervous and feeling like I'm doing something wrong.
There are people who can look out for other human beings; there are people who can speak up when something is not right and say, 'This is wrong, and something should be done.'
I feel, in 2015, when we see human beings and children dying to cross the ocean, trying to find safety, something more must be done to help them because refugees are just like me and you.
My father made sure of discipline, but my mum, she was serious business.
From nine years old, I lived with fear. I saw our neighbours disappearing. I was scared that I would come home from school and my parents would not be there.
I still have dreams in which someone is coming to the door.
Bones inside clothes. That was war to me.
My experience as a refugee had made me strong; I could survive anything, even the world of fashion.
When I was 10 years old, I fled my homeland amid the bomb blasts of civil war in Sudan.
I never thought I would see a free South Sudan.
Leaving southern Sudan as a child was terrifying. It was 1985, and my family and I were trying to escape to Khartoum, the capital in the North, to safety.
When I first started modeling, I realised I was very different from many of my colleagues, but I welcomed the opportunities my career in fashion offered me and the support from many inspiring individuals in the fashion industry.
For me, it always goes back to what my mother taught me and my sisters. That all women are beautiful, and we should embrace each other.
Beauty should not be culturally relevant; it should be universal.
I have eight brothers and sisters, so I'd like to have a few children.
I would love to continue to model but also have a family.
Having arrived in London to seek refuge during the civil war in Sudan, where I was born, the thing I'm most proud of is having totally evolved. I came here not knowing how to speak English, but I went to school and learned; I adapted to this new culture.
My life was filled with family in South Sudan. I am the seventh of nine children, and we grew up in what would be considered a middle-class family. We did not have a lot, but we did have more than a lot of other people.
I meet and talk to women from every corner of this planet, and I can find beauty in each and every one of them.
Beauty does not mean one thing but not something else.
For me, you have to have some kind of modesty.
The fact that designers like Lagerfeld, Gaultier, Galliano and Dior could believe in Alek made me believe in myself, too.
I believe we should utilise any power we have for important issues that are bigger and beyond us. Whether it's with refugees or working to educate kids. I don't think you need to have gone through a civil war to do something. I believe as human beings, we can look out for each other.
When my friends talk about childhood, I've never heard of any cartoons or TV they remember. The only thing we share is Michael Jackson. That's how far his music travelled - to a remote village on the other side of the world.
When the militias came to Wau, they would blast out 'Thriller' as they moved down the dirt streets.
I had serious psoriasis as a child - it's strange that I make my living off my looks after years of looking like a monster.
I had jobs from the age of 14, when I arrived in London as a refugee. Aged 17, I'd get up at 4 A.M. to work as a cleaner before school. It wasn't pleasant.
I use Johnson & Johnson! I use their baby oil gel.
We need to do everything we can to protect the health and welfare of children around the world, but fortunately, it's getting easier to provide things like medication and care.
I used to have nightmares about the civil war when I got to England at ages 14 to 15. It took me some years to get over that.
I could never understand why other kids wanted to truant - my education here gave me everything. It's the place where I really got to flourish.
The day you stop enjoying something is the day you should quit, if you can afford to.
There are mothers who sew for six months to make a fashion collection - someone's grandmother, someone's sister. We come in and get paid to walk for 10 minutes at the end. Whenever I think about that, I realise it's not about me. I was just the one chosen to represent those women and sell the clothes.
I know how it feels to go hungry.
I have no problem with whatever the next big look is. Just don't try and tell me that only one look is beautiful.Collection: Beautiful
For me, there has never been one definition of beauty. I think we all have something to offer and when beauty shines from within, there can be no denying itCollection: Thinking