He has ebony skin and the dark gaze of those who have seen too much.
In the shadow of war, where sometimes hope seems to fade, a star has emerged.
Mamuor Awak Majeng, who turned 21 on January 29, is indeed the rising star of the fashion world.
With 59 appearances at Fashion Week, he is the most sought-after model of 2023. Nothing seemed to predestine this former child soldier from the Sudanese civil war to the splendor of the fashion shows.
In just two years, however, it has become the anthem of the beauty that survives, of the history that is being rewritten.
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Mamuor Majeng shows for Maison Margiela, spring-summer 2024 collection. (Paris, October 3, 2023.) Imaxtree
The upheaval began three years ago.
At the time, the teenager posted videos on Instagram, from his village in South Sudan, where he danced and composed music.
These fall under the seasoned eye of Yves Constant, “
model scout” (professional who spots new talents, Editor’s note),
specialist in the country’s models.
Mamuor Majeng hesitated for a year, fearing a scam.
He will only talk to his mother about it after having obtained a visa and a travel date from the Elite agency, as reported by AFP.
His mother is worried about seeing the eldest of the siblings, the “man of the family” so to speak, leave.
He promises her that he will never let them down and then leaves the country, and the war that is shaking it.
Also read: Sudan on the threshold of an unprecedented tragedy
Muse Balmain
Two years followed during which Mamuor Majeng showed for major designers: Balenciaga, Kenzo, Bottega Veneta, Acne Studios, Rick Owens and dozens of others, sometimes with several appearances on the same show.
He became the muse of Balmain, whose last show he opened, and made the biggest catwalks of the last Fashion Week: Louis Vuitton by Pharrell Williams, Maison Margiela by John Galliano or Jacquemus, in Nice.
On January 23, in the middle of haute couture week in Paris, another page opened: it was behind the scenes of his own fashion show that he was shivering.
The model, still vibrating to the beauties of her country, became a designer.
He explains to AFP, in a smile that reveals his golden
grillz (removable dental jewelry, Editor's note)
: "I thought I would be a model all my life but I started to think that I had to do something" .
First parade
As AFP explains, South Sudan has been “ravaged since 2020 by a conflict marked by ethnic atrocities, rape and torture, which has left more than 380,000 dead and caused a humanitarian crisis.”
@maamuor on Instagram
It is perhaps in this first parade, entirely self-financed, entitled War Zone, that the atrocities of which he never speaks resonate.
Little is known about his past as a child soldier at the heart of the Sudanese civil war, which has left more than 380,000 dead since 2020 according to AFP.
Questioned on the subject, he describes this past as a “difficult experience”, without going into detail.
Without a lexicon, they draw them, giving them curves, materials and a scene, the Espace Niemeyer, Place du Colonel Fabien in Paris.
So on the podium, a brutal allegory is played out.
The camouflage patterns symbolize the memory of his childhood enemies, preying on his people;
the black doll under a mannequin's arm depicts him or each of his siblings being carried by their mother to protect them from war: "We can make it look elegant, but it's This is where I was raised.
Mamuor Majeng at the parade of his brand, called 1/2 Mamuor, which immerses the public in the memories of a child soldier, between military fatigues, fear and the gangsta culture which overcomes violence.
(Paris, January 23, 2023.) @maamuor on Instagram
Mamuor Majeng then arrives to greet the public, in a white fur, a nod to the animal skins on which members of his ethnic group, the Dinka, sleep.
He collapses.
He who left violence has become the adopted child of the spotlight.
Five days from the date of his father's death, in reverence to his roots, Mamuor Majeng stands as a symbol of resilience.
In video, the backstage of the first fashion show of 1/2 Mamuor, the brand of Mamuor Majeng, filmed by Elite Models: