Top Model Quits the Industry Saying she 'can No Longer Deal with the Fakes and Lies

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

One of Australia's most successful international runway models, Ajak Deng, today announced she has quit modeling because of 'fakes and lies' in the fashion industry.' Deng has modelled for a number of high profile designers including Dior, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Marc Jacobs, Chloe and Jean Paul Gaultier, and starred in campaigns for Topshop, Barneys, MAC and Levis.

In an Instagram post uploaded early Wednesday morning, Deng said that she was happy to announce
that she was 'officially done with the fashion industry.'

An hour later, Deng posted a photo on Instagram of herself smiling and looking up to the sky with the caption 'Thank you for your blessings God.'

26-year-old Deng came to Melbourne, Australia, in 2005, after her family fled Sudan as refugees. Her mother died of malaria in a refugee camp in Kenya whilst they were waiting to be resettled.

The model has previously been outspoken about racism she had encountered both in Australia and overseas. In 2014 she told Elle that she had experienced racism her 'entire life.'

'I go back to Melbourne and think I’m going home and someone will say “You don’t belong here” and I’m like “Well I grew up here. What do you mean I don’t belong here?' she told the magazine.

In 2014 the model tweeted about racism in the international fashion industry, claiming that she was 'kicked out of Balmain for being black.'
Deng followed up with a tweet saying:

'I know a lot of black models would rather kiss someone's a** than being honest but guessed what? I do not gaged a damn f*** [sic].'

The tweet, and Deng's account, were later deleted. Deng's manager Stephen Bucknell recently told Melbourne newspaper the Herald Sun that she had trouble booking modeling work in Australia because the industry won't spend the 'big dollars' on non-white girls.

'They’ll book the big Caucasian girls, spend the big dollars, and fly them in from LA, but I’m yet to see them book a dark skinned girl in that way,' he said.

Buckell spotted Deng in Melbourne whilst she was still in High School and signed her to FRM Model Management in 2008.