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In a move that’s slightly shaking up tradition, the British Fashion Council has announced the winner of its coveted Model of the Year award nearly a month ahead of the 2025 Fashion Awards — and the honour goes to Sudanese-American supermodel Anok Yai.

Revealed via the BFC’s Instagram, the Council described Yai as “a defining force in today’s fashion landscape,” praising her for not only reshaping beauty standards on the runway, but also for pushing forward a wider conversation around representation. “Her influence continues to shape culture and inspire the next generation,” the announcement read.

For Yai, 27, this recognition marks a full-circle moment in a whirlwind career that began in 2017, when a candid photograph of her glowing at Howard University’s Homecoming went viral and made its way to fashion scouts. In the years since, she has carved out an unshakeable place in the industry, often referred to as one of the most distinctive, versatile and runway-commanding models working today.

This year alone, her résumé reads like a victory lap. Yai opened shows for Ferragamo, Coperni and Hugo Boss, and closed for Ralph Lauren, Fendi, Vetements and Messikia. She also walked for Saint Laurent, Mugler, Tom Ford, Calvin Klein, Bottega Veneta, and Matthieu Blazy’s highly anticipated Chanel debut.

Outside the runway, she fronted campaigns for Mugler’s Alien fragrance and high-street staples like Gap, appeared in the revival of the Victoria’s Secret runway show, and covered magazines including Perfect, Vogue France and Allure — the latter in a double-cover moment with last year’s winner Alex Consani.

Unlike previous years, when five models were typically shortlisted ahead of the ceremony, the BFC quietly convened an internal panel of industry leaders to decide the winner directly.

The jury included BFC CEO Laura Weir, photographer Campbell Addy, Dazed fashion features director Emma Davidson, stylist Carlos Nazario, casting director Emma Matell, movement director Pat Boguslawski, former Dazed editorial director Kacion Mayers, and 10 Magazine’s editor-in-chief Sophia Neophitou-Apostolou.

Yai now joins a lineage of fashion icons who have held the title, including Bella Hadid, Paloma Elsesser, and Kate Moss, who remains the record-holder with three wins.

But her legacy has been unfolding long before the accolades. She was the second Black model ever to open a Prada runway show after Naomi Campbell, has graced American Vogue three times, and has been at the centre of a cultural shift in the visibility of dark-skinned Black women — from runways to billboards to music videos with Ice Spice and Lil Yachty.

As for the rest of the British Fashion Awards, the suspense remains. The ceremony, known for gathering the fashion industry’s most influential names under the dome of London’s Royal Albert Hall, is set to take place on December 1, with winners across the remaining categories to be announced live.

This year, however, the crown for fashion’s top runway star belongs firmly, definitively, and deservedly to Anok Yai.

Cover photo: Anok Yai Instagram