British Vogue - 10.2019

“I don’t wear much

make-up anymore,

so my skin can

breathe, but I’m

never without my

Fenty Gloss.” Gloss

Bomb Universal

Lip Luminizer in

Fenty Glow, £16,

Fenty Beauty

DESERT ISLAND DISCS

Sade “Your Love

Is King”

Frank Ocean “Nikes”

Prince “I Wanna

Be Your Lover” and

“When Doves Cry”

The Internet

“Hold On”

“Rihanna is

100 per cent my

style icon. I get

goosebumps even

thinking of

meeting her.”

“I’m really excited

about model Aaron

Philip. She has such

an important story.”

“Confidence shines through in any

picture. Finesse the light, know your

angles, wear what makes you feel

good. I love using the Huji app, too.”

Of all the life-changing gap-year stories you may

have heard, Ugbad Abdi’s is among the more

fashion forward. The 19-year-old, who was born

in Somalia and spent some of her childhood in a

Kenyan refugee camp before moving to America,

was in Iowa weighing up her post-high school

options and thinking about becoming a nurse, when

she decided to listen to the scores of friends who

told her to give modelling a shot. Soon she was

posting fashion and beauty looks on Instagram and,

sure enough, an agent got in touch. In the blink of

an eye, Abdi was signed to Next Models and out

on the runway walking for Valentino and Fendi,

even opening for Marc Jacobs. “It seems like a long

time ago,” she tells Vogue between couture shows

in Paris, despite the fact she has been modelling

for only just over a year. A practising Muslim and

naturally shy, wearing the hijab “has made me more

vocal”, she says. “I want to encourage young Muslim

girls to feel like they can dream big.” Amel Mukhtar

Ug bad Abd i

“When my skin

is bad I use

Yes To Tomatoes

Detoxifying Mud

Mask [£12]. The

sheet masks are

also super-

moisturising.”

“The Eiffel Tower is

my favourite place.

It’s such a surreal

moment when

you’re in front of it.

I FaceTimed my

mom the first time

I was there.”

VOGU E DA R LI NG

TYLER MITCHELL/ART PARTNER; @IAMUGBAD; GETTY IMAGES; PENGUIN; PIXELATE.BIZ

“I wear

thick gold hoops

from Forever

21 all the time.

They go with

everything.”

Earrings, £4.50,

Forever 21

“My most-used emojis

are the Gemini sign –

I’m a Gemini, and I

send it to my Gemini

friends – and the smiley

face with the hearts.”

“Lately, I’ve

been shopping

at Khaite a

lot. It’s so my

aesthetic. I

bought a leather

jacket I live in

right now.”

“Models wait

around a lot, so I

always have a

book. I’m reading

Outliers: The Story of

Success by Malcolm

Gladwell next.”

Leather jacket,

£3,254, Khaite, at

Mytheresa.com

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