Adesuwe Aighewi's Life Philosophy: I Can Feel Sexy While Claiming a Better World

Adewuwa wears black flash Saint Laurent mixed with jewelry from Messika, Cartier, Hermes, Alexander McQueen in images by Jack Waterlot.

Top model Adesuwa Aighewi covers the December 2019 issue of S Moda for El Pais. Aighewi is styled by Paula Delgado in images by Jack Waterlot./ Art Direction by Andrew McConochie; Hair by Romina Manenti; makeup by Asami Taguchi See all the product credits.

Adesuwa wears clothes from MM6, Loewe and Balmain and jewelry from Messika, Cartier, and Grassy. Image by Jack Waterlot.

Activist Adesuwa Aighewi is skyrocketing to the top of the modeling industry. Her latest accolade is being nominated along with with Adut Akecn, Adwoa Aboah, Kaia Gerber and Winnie Harlow for Model of the Year, scheduled for December 2 at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

The nominees were chose based upon votes from more than 2,500 industry members and will be joined on stage by this year’s honorees: fashion icon Naomi Campbell and outstanding achievement award winner Giorgio Armani.

Adesuwa poses in key pieces from Versace and Alexander McQueen in images by Jack Waterlot.

AOC articulates Adesuwa Aighewi’s activist, documentary producer narrative constantly — as recently as last week — but we just learned a new reference from her S Moda interview. BTW, do you know that AOC tracks the intersection of black beauty, racism in fashion and beyond, colonialism, slavery in America and contemporary Africa in our GlamTribal channel” There is NOTHING like it out there in fashion and style land.

This brilliant young woman Adesuwa Aighewi shared with Porter Edit that she refused to get breast implants to have success as a Victoria’s Secret model — depressing the hell out of her agent. There must be 5-6 top models who had snide remarks for VS just last week. The floodgates are opening — which is why I think just merging or buying) or being bought by For Love & Lemons might be the best route out of hell for VS.

What AOC notes — and has never been exposed to in decades of work in civil rights — is her reference to ‘How To Make a Slave’ by Willie Lynch, an alleged slave owner in the West Indies. Looking for the best reference on this alleged, but heavily disputed speech, I will share this link for LongReads, because 1) it’s researched by librarians using the wayback machine, and it involves Kanye West. Denzel Washington quotes the letter at length in the 2007 film ‘The Great Debaters’.

Multiple voices in this article argue that the letter is a construction from the ‘60s or ‘70s, one created to confuse and disempower people of color. Rest assured that AOC will be investigating Aighewi’s reference to ‘How To Make a Slave’.

Clothes from Loewe and jewelry from Messika, Cartier and Gucci. Image by Jack Waterlot.

Ending her interview in perfect harmony with AOC, Adesuwa summarizes the intersection of intelligence, activism and sensuality that defines her generation — an evolution that I hammered into closed minds at Victoria’s Secret to no avail. Back then I called them the rise of the Cultural Creatives, who would reject Modern values under a backlash from the declining Traditionals.

Sadly, I was right and this talented young woman sums up what Victoria’s Secret failed to grasp in their pursuit of the Angels and a testosterone-infused, Las Vegas spectacle vision of women.

For me, fashion is fantasy, in the broadest sense of the word. I love feeling sexy, as much as claiming a better world. ”