#MODELCRUSH: The Pride Of South Sudan, How Ataui Deng Went From A Refugee To A Supermodel

Ataui Deng, whose full name is Ataui Deng Hopkins, was born in Khartoum in Sudan but, in 2004 at the age of 12, she and her parents moved to the US just one year after the second Sudanese civil war came to an end.

In 2008, she was spotted at a modelling expo in Dallas, and got signed with Trump modelling agency. She debuted as a runway model in September 2008 for the spring Jeremy Laing, Kai Kuhne, L’Wren Scott, Proenza Schouler,and Zac Posen shows in New York. Ataui skipped the fashion weeks in Europe in 2008 in order to finish high school in Texas.

Deng, who is the niece of model Alek Wek, has since appeared on the pages of Marie Claire France, Vogue Germany and Rihanna’s Spring 2013 River Island collection.She has modelled for L’Wren Scott, Proenza Schouler and Zac Posen. She was filmed by Jeremy Kost backstage at the Zac Posen show for New York magazine

The top model has appeared in Teen Vogue several times and has also been photographed by Tibi Clenci. At age eighteen she became well known for having fallen on the runway for Z Spoke by Zac Posen.

At age eighteen she became well known for having fallen on the runway for Z Spoke by Zac Posen

8 August 2014, she was reported missing and was later found in a New York hospital after being being missing for 10 days.