Australian international model and refugee Adut Akech has revealed that a magazine that incorrectly captioned a photo of another black model as her took 72 hours after publication to apologise.
Akech, 19, has walked for leading names including Chanel and is currently on the cover of multiple editions of Vogue worldwide, including the British version guest-edited by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. But the double-page spread in WHO magazine carried a full-page image of model Flavia Lazarus.
Model Adut Akech: ‘It’s going to be a long fight, but I’m up for it.’ Credit:Chris Hopkins
The magazine hit stands on Thursday but it took until Sunday for a representative to contact Akech.
"I think they were kind of hoping nobody would notice," she said on Tuesday in an extensive interview with The Age ahead of her appearance at Melbourne Fashion Week.
On Monday, a spokeswoman for WHO blamed the error on Melbourne Fashion Week's public relations agency, OPR, which provided a suite of images to the magazine that included images of both Akech and Lazarus. The magazine declined to comment further on Tuesday.
The error came to widespread public attention on Sunday night, when Akech posted an emotional statement to her 500,00 Instagram followers, blasting the magazine for its "unacceptable and inexcusable" error.
She said it didn't matter who was ultimately responsible for the stuff-up, "[the editor] should have been the one to pick up the phone and [say], 'We're so sorry.'"
Akech said she has "felt every emotion" over the past couple of days.
"When I found out three days ago, I was angry, I was pissed, hurt, you know, a lot of things," Akech said on Tuesday. "I think I have calmed down now. It's making me feel better knowing my point is getting across.
"This fight to get this message across doesn't stop today, tomorrow, or the day after. It's going to be a long fight, but I'm up for it."
Akech said she had experienced similar, albeit smaller, errors before and it was important to speak up.
"This one in particular is way bigger than me. It's a real issue that's constantly happening and it needs to stop," she said.
Akech, who was born in South Sudan but raised in Kenya then Adelaide, said Australia needed to work hard to catch up to the rest of the fashion world when it comes to diversity.
"I love Australia but I am not going to sugarcoat anything bad they're doing because it's my country. I'm not glad [this error] happened to me but now I have the power to do something about it."
In her original post, Akech said the error in the magazine "would've not happened to a white model".
"We all look different … I honestly don't understand why it keeps happening … it needs to stop because it's insulting, it's disrespectful, it's rude and [it suggests] that we're being treated differently. I've never heard another white girl being called [incorrectly] but it's happened a lot to me and other dark-skinned girls. It's just ignorant. It is racist, in a way. If you're going to do it, at least do it to everyone."
Akech said she confided in her sister, her closest friends, her mother and her agents immediately after she found out about the error. And despite some trolling on social media, has no regrets about speaking out so forcefully.
"I know how I'm feeling and this is my truth and what I believe is right, and therefore I am going to speak about it, regardless of who likes it and who doesn't. It's not really my concern."
Given her travel schedule, Tuesday was the first time Akech had seen herself in the British Vogue as one of the Duchess' 15 "forces for change". She said seeing the magazine in real life made her feel proud.
"It's not like any other Vogue cover I've done. There's meaning behind it … it's special that Meghan finds me and my story and what I stand for inspirational. This cover has definitely given me more motivation to thrive and fight for what I believe is right and fight for refugees. I'm more determined than ever."
The reporter is a host at the Melbourne Fashion Week business seminar.
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