On February 19, 2026, a group of models dressed largely in black moved in formation across the cracked paving stones of a hotel courtyard in Juba, South Sudan. Photographer Luis Tato captured the training session for AFP and Getty Images as members of the Juba-based agency Jubalicious practiced the turns, pauses and measured strides of a runway walk.
The photographs, produced for an AFP report published in March, show the work that precedes a fashion show: repeated movements, close observation and disciplined formation. The setting is far removed from the carefully controlled environments of Paris couture, but the professional ambition is unmistakable.
Less than five months later, on July 7, South Sudanese model Achol Kuir appeared in Ashi Studio's Fall 2026 Haute Couture presentation during Paris Couture Week. Models.com's show credits list Kuir among the collection's 32 models.
Models.com lists Achol Kuir as South Sudanese and based in Paris. Her international representation includes HEROES Model Management in New York, Metropolitan/M Management/Makers in Paris, Brave Model Management in Milan and The MiLK Collective in London.
Her recorded 2026 work includes Fall/Winter runway appearances for Valentino, Jean Paul Gaultier, Balenciaga, Mugler, Schiaparelli and Tom Ford, along with a Gucci campaign and a Tom Ford Pre-Fall 2026 lookbook. Her Ashi Studio couture appearance provides recent evidence that South Sudanese talent remains highly visible at the top of the international fashion industry.
That visibility is not limited to one model. AFP reported in March that nine of Models.com's then-current top 50 models were originally from South Sudan. That figure reflected Models.com's rankings at the time of AFP's report and should not be read as a current July count, but it illustrates the country's disproportionate presence in global fashion.
The contrast between Kuir's Paris career and the February training session in Juba also exposes an important divide. Models already based abroad and represented by established international agencies have access to professional networks capable of moving them between fashion capitals. Aspiring models still based in Juba face a much more uncertain route.
Kuir is not known to have trained with Jubalicious, and her career should not be presented as a direct Juba-to-Paris success story. Instead, her appearance demonstrates the level of demand for South Sudanese models once international representation and mobility are in place.
When a Booking Is Not Enough
Jubalicious founder Doris Sukeji told AFP that the agency offered free runway training lasting up to three months and collected a 10% commission when a model secured paid work. That arrangement, however, depends on the model being able to reach the job.
Sukeji said seven models had recently been refused visas despite having work sponsors. One was Yar Agou, 19, who was expected to work during Milan Fashion Week before her visa was denied at the last minute. AFP reported that she was working as a cleaner while waiting for another opportunity.
Bichar Hoah, a 24-year-old male model raised by a single mother in Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp, had also recently been refused a European visa, according to the same report.
Those cases were documented in March and should not be presented as new July developments. As of July 25, no subsequent visa approvals or overseas bookings for Agou, Hoah or the other affected Jubalicious models had been publicly confirmed.
The distinction matters: the international industry can express interest, issue an invitation and provide a sponsor, yet a model may still be unable to accept the work.
The Diaspora Path to Fashion's Biggest Runways
Awar Odhiang's career illustrates what becomes possible when international mobility and representation are already established—and why her story is not simply one of moving directly from Juba to Paris.
Odhiang was born in a refugee camp in Ethiopia to parents who had fled conflict in South Sudan. Her family later resettled in Canada. In October 2025, she closed Matthieu Blazy's debut collection for Chanel, the house's Spring/Summer 2026 show in Paris.
Odhiang told Vogue that Blazy encouraged her to enjoy the moment. Her smiling, twirling, clapping and eventual embrace with the designer were spontaneous rather than choreographed. She became only the third Black woman to close a Chanel show, following Alek Wek in 2004 and Adut Akech in 2018.
Her achievement demonstrates the international fashion industry's embrace of South Sudanese talent and heritage. But her upbringing in Canada and established international career differ materially from the circumstances facing a model who remains in Juba and must first overcome visa, financial and agency-access barriers.
Other African fashion markets offer limited context for that divide. Lagos has a more visible domestic fashion-week ecosystem, while Cape Town and Johannesburg have more developed agency and commercial-production networks. Juba offers far fewer comparable opportunities, making access to international work especially consequential for its aspiring models.
Return, then, to the courtyard in Juba: models moving in formation across broken paving stones, rehearsing a walk without a formal runway beneath them.
The photographs reveal no shortage of preparation, discipline or ambition. The unresolved question is how many locally based models will be able to reach the visas, representation and industry support needed to join the international runways already showcasing South Sudanese talent.
