The Sudanese catwalk queen, 31, has modelled for the likes of John Galliano and Calvin Klein since being discovered in London when she was 18 but, as she tells us, it wasn’t a smooth ride.

“I was told, ‘You can’t make it – you’re this, you’re that, your nose is too wide etc’,” says Alek, whose family fled to Britain in 1991 to escape Sudan’s civil war.

“I used to have psoriasis until about 12 years ago, which has always kept me humble. But every model goes through turbulence so you have to work out what you’re going to do. I said I’m not going to hide behind the curtain.

“We are beautiful because of our shapes. How boring it would be to be like a Cindy or a Naomi,” she told us at the This Day Africa Rising music and fashion festival in Washington, DC.

“I have five sisters and we’re all so different – and we need to celebrate that. I’m grateful to my parents who always told me there is no growth in negativity.”