Sudanese Model Adut Akech Bior Makes History As The Second Black Woman To Close A Chanel Haute Couture Show

Although Sudanese model Adut Akech Bior is only 18, she’s already made history on the runway. This past week, Bior became the second Black model to serve as a bride in Chanel’s Haute Couture Fall 2018 show, she also ended the presentation.

Each season, Chanel’s longtime creative director Karl Lagerfeld selects a model to close the runway as an unconventional bride and he personally selected Bior for the honor this time around. Alek Wek actually became the first Black model to hit the runway as a bride for Chanel back in 2004.At this year’s Chanel Haute Couture Fall 2018 show in Paris, Sudanese model Adut Akech Bior made history as the second black model to close out the Chanel Couture show, joining the likes of Chanel bride alums like Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevingne, Luna Bijl, and more.

Bior was dressed in a mint green two-piece tweed suit featuring a foliage pattern, embellished with sequins on the front of the jacket and along the sides of the skirt. Before Bior graced the Chanel Couture runway, fellow Sudanese model Alek Wek became the first black model to land the prestigious honour in 2004.

(Alex Wek previously stole the show as Chanel’s bride during the fall 2004 couture show wearing a feather cape). In pistachio no less, Adut Akech proudly walked beside the Kaiser. And while rumours continue to swirl that this could be his last show (or at the very least, one of them) it’s quite telling that the brand’s decision makers decidedly chose this casting. The conversation was turned not to his retirement, or even to the clothes, necessarily, but to the cultural implications of the race of his bride.