Superstar creative and top model Anok Yai [IG] is styled by Jaheel Weaver [IG] in images by Thibaut Grevet [IG] for The Perfect Magazine #9 [IG]. The trio shares creative director credentials for a fashion story called ‘Rust’, but as Anok explains on her IG — and quoted here on AOC — the story is about a deliberate act of claiming one’s own ‘Rebirth by fire.’ / Hair by Jacob Kajrup; makeup by Ana Takahashi; set design by Afra Zamara

Many Models are More than Mannequins

Anok speaks words so totally in sync with AOC’s own words about fashion editorials when she says:

I believe that editorials should be like short films; It should take you on a journey and it should draw you into its world. I’m not gonna lie, there’s nothing I hate more than sitting in front of a white wall and looking bored. I decided to come up with ideas for editorials that I would want to see.

Anok’s remarks reference the very words AOC wrote yesterday about the H&M ‘In Between’ campaign putting the models in charge of creating their own narratives.

Frankly, this H&M strategy [of trusting that these figures are best trusted to express their own ‘celebrity’ selves moving from one show to the next] appeals to the models, who continue to seek greater direct influence in fashion week action and events. Translated, they want to have roles beyond being a mannequin.

Anok Yai Specializes in Deep Thinking

Anok continues from her very insightful perch of an accomplished artist and creative who runs into life and not away from it. From her paintings and small movie roles to her Perfect Magazine commentary, the prism of her mind goes deeply into the human spirit and experience; and the contradictions of life.

I’ve always been enamored by stories of people disappearing or faking their deaths to start new lives with new identities. Cutting all contact with the past —essentially becoming a new person.
What drives someone to that point .. Desperation? Reinvention? Crime? Autonomy? Love?

Choosing Rebirth by Fire

If you were able to start a new life but at the cost of destroying your old one … would you do it?
I ask myself this question all the time but the answer always changes..

This editorial represents a woman who made the decision to destroy her past, fake her death, and become anew.
Rebirth by fire.

In Closing: Having written about Anok Yai since her 2017 Howard University homecoming weekend discovery, it’s exciting to watch her reach for the highest rungs — not of fashion world, but of her own self-development as a creative human being.

I have MUCH to say about Anok as an ancestral voice in this moment. But expressing such lofty concepts in today’s culturally-devisive world are almost impossible to narrate. The loudest voices are winning and they are focused not on dialogue but on accusations, condemnation and ignorance.

I speak not of MAGA or our current American president. I speak of us — those who view ourselves as culture truth-tellers and choose to fight each other, rather than the biggest enemy of shared ideas we profess to embrace together.

Nevertheless, humanity’s very origins lie in Anok Yai’s ancestral roots. I am not speaking of Africa, which is a vast continent of diversity, but of a specific part of Africa. If you’ve read AOC for years, you understand my words. If not “look it up”.

At a moment when I’m really tired of arguing about culture and race, Anok inspires me to pick up that sword and break it. I believe deeply that she Is a very evolved spirit and voice for humanity. If people were smart, they would back up and give her a wide canvas or even a pulpit where she can express herself.

Anok carries many voices besides her own inside her. She is a high priestess for humanity, and that’s not a flip comment in anyway. Anok is the real deal. Sending love. ~ Anne