Ataui Deng (born 3 November 1991) is a

Sudanese American Sudanese Americans () are Americans of Sudanese ancestry or Sudanese who have American citizenship. Sudanese Americans may also include children born in the United States to an American (or to another nationality) parent and a Sudanese parent. ...

model who began her fashion career at the age of 17 in 2008. As the niece of

Alek Wek Alek Wek (born 16 April 1977) is a South Sudanese-British model and designer who began her fashion career at the age of 18 in 1995. She has been hailed for her influence on the perception of beauty in the fashion industry. She is from the Di ...

, she began her career linked to her more famous aunt though her youth quickly became the aspect that the media focused on. She is from the South

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

, and left for

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Texas, USA. She currently lives in San Antonio, TX.

Early life

Deng was born in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

in the Sudan. She escaped the Second Sudanese Civil War with her parents and immigrated to San Antonio, Texas.

Career

She arrived in San Antonio at age 12, four years later she signed to Trump modelling agency and moved to New York. 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. She was filmed by Jeremy Kost backstage at the Zac Posen show for New York magazine. She skipped the fashion weeks in Europe in 2008 in order to finish high school in Texas. She appeared in Teen Vogue several times. At age eighteen she became well known for having fallen on the runway for Z Spoke by Zac Posen.

Image

Ataui Deng forms part of a famous triumvirate of ethnic Dinka models, the other two are her aunt Alek Wek and her best friend Ajak Deng.

Personal life

Deng is best friends with Australian Sudanese model Ajak Deng who has sometimes mistakenly been described as her sister. She is niece to the runway model

. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. She was reported missing on 8 August 2014. On August 18, 2014, she was found in a New York hospital after being reported missing for 10 days.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deng, Ataui 1991 births Living people Female models from Texas Sudanese emigrants to the United States Dinka people South Sudanese female models 21st-century American women Dinka women 21st-century American people