Agbani Darego, MFR (born Agbani
Asenite Darego, 22 December 1982) is a Nigerian model and beauty
queen, best known as the first native African to win Miss World.
Early
Life
Darego's family roots are in Abonnema, Rivers State. She was born in Lagos to a family of eight children. At age two, she
relocated to Port Harcourt and was raised in D-line. Darego attended Bereton
Montessori Nursery and Primary School. At ten, she was sent to a boarding school in a bid to shield her from her mother who had become
very ill with breast cancer.
Darego's mother died two years
later, and her daughter has spoken of how the loss prepared her for the future.
As a teenager, Darego longed to be a model, and despite her conservative father's wishes, she auditioned for the M-Net Face of Africa modelling competition, but was not chosen as a
finalist. After finishing her secondary education, she attended University of
Port Harcourt where she
studied Computer Scienceand Mathematics.
Pageantry
In 2001, Darego was crowned
Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria. Contrary to popular belief, Darego did not
replace Valerie Peterside after the latter was dethroned, as she had won Miss
Nigeria. A few months later she was a contestant at Miss Universe, and became
the first Nigerian to place among the top 10 semi-finalists, finishing seventh
overall. She was the only one to wear a maillot as opposed to a bikini during the
swimsuit competition.
In November that year, she became the first native African to
claim the Miss World title (Although past winners such as Penelope Coelen and Anneline Kriel are
South African, they are of European descent, and Antigone
Costanda, who represented Egypt in 1954 is of
Greek heritage). Darego's victory was widely welcomed in her home country, and
her one-year tenure included goodwill trips and scheduled appearances on behalf
of the pageant, and a national honour of MFR.
Modeling
Prior to winning MBGN, Darego
featured in print commercials for boutique chain Collectables, and following her stint at Miss Universe was
invited by Naomi Campbell to participate in Frock 'n' Roll - a charity
fashion show in Barcelona and soon negotiated a modelling deal with Donald Trump's
management to establish links with modelling agencies in America.
Shortly after her reign as
Miss World she was represented by the London and Paris branches of
Next Model Management and landed a three-year contract with L'Oréal,
becoming only the second Black model to accomplish this feat after Vanessa Williams, and was photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue.
Other brands she has modelled for include Avon, Christian Dior, Sephora, Target,
and Macy’s.
Darego has also appeared in Elle, Marie Claire, Allure, Trace, Stitch, Cosmopolitan, and Essence magazines, working with
numerous designers including Oscar de la
Renta, Marc Bouwer, Tommy Hillfiger, Ralph Lauren,
and Gianfranco Ferre.
In her homeland Darego has appeared in advertising campaigns for
hair care brand Gentle Touch with model Oluchi,
and is served as the face of Arik Air. She has also graced the covers
of Complete Fashion, Mania, ThisDay Style, Genevieve, True Love, and TW Magazine
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