So African… So Chic…
antoinette
[From Archive , Article published May 2009] Who WAS that gorgeous African model on the catwalks of Rosemont Australian Fashion Week 2009? AfricanOz stepped ‘backstage’ to chat to Antoinette Ataro, originally from Kenya (pic courtesy CHIC models).
Hovering over a pocket radio shared between 12 brothers and sisters – in a humble African village house devoid of TV – it must have been hard for a young Antoinette to imagine she’d one day be a professional model, with designer clothes, international travel and a face to grace magazine covers.
But then who – at that time – could predict that a village near Antoinette’s in the Luo area of Northern Kenya – would see local blood, Barack Obama, become president of the United States?
As Antoinette explains, “I’ve come to see how everything is possible. It’s all about attitude – how you put yourself out there.”
Despite this optimism, Antoinette never takes her own achievements for granted. While growing up she never imagined becoming a model – only wanting a job to help support her family. Her father, who worked for a shipping company, used the family’s precious savings to educate his children, sending Antoinette to a strict boarding school, where she acquired ‘self-discipline’ and a good education.
Through friends and contacts (“Having an education will not get you a job in Africa”) she found work as a receptionist, before hearing about a ‘casting session’ for catwalk models in the Smirnoff Fashion Awards in Nairobi. She recalls entering a room where the girls all seemed wealthy, experienced, and well travelled. “I was very nervous, didn’t know what to wear. I felt like I was from the ghetto, and these girls were not my class.”
Her nerves served her well, and she was selected – a catwalk stint that led to other jobs and registration with Kenya’s Mzuri modelling agency. “I was insanely happy during this time. I wondered how someone like me with nothing could make it. When they accepted me, I thought, Oh my God, they believe in me. I’m over the moon.”
It was during her first modeling assignments she met her future husband – an Australian man who worked in advertising.
The two soon moved to South Africa where Antoinette found a welcoming cosmopolitan market for black women – her image appeared in department store catalogues, fashion magazines, and designer fashion shows. Despite her apparent success, she says she struggled to make a living in South Africa: “Life was expensive and the money wasn’t a lot.”
To compound her disillusionment, during a modeling shoot in Mauritius she received the tragic news that her mother was ill, and shortly after, passed away. Antoinette decided to leave South Africa and join her partner in Australia. But she’d hardly touched the shoreline, when Asia called.
Packing her bags again, she flew to live in Singapore – from where she acquired work in Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and other cities. She says, “I scored stacks of shows in Asia. Finally I could send money back home, and develop a strong book” (a portfolio of her work – which, at the time, included the cover of ‘Elle’ magazine in Singapore. She’d earlier been the cover girl of Kenya’s ‘Cosmopolitan’).
Three years later, she returned to Australia, where she now works in magazines, catwalk modeling and other areas. Despite a steady stream of assignments, she admits it can be hard in a market that is “used to Caucasian models.” “It can be hard for an African model in Australia. You don’t know how it’s going to go. It’s precarious.”
“But if you’ve been to a difficult place, it makes you stronger. You can better deal with setbacks and disappointments. You know that tomorrow is a new chapter, a new beginning.”
Her determination was boosted after a return to Kenya last year where she realised how hard life can be for her family and friends. Problems of poverty and AIDS are still affecting whole communities in East Africa – and in her spare time, Antoinette says she’s endeavored to do charity work to help alleviate such suffering.
It’s a caring side of her personality also reflected in her love of children. “I would love to eventually work with children and to have children. They are a blessing.”
Right now, however, she’s busy racing from her Fashion Week assignment in Sydney to another project in Adelaide – from where she’ll return to her base in Brisbane.
With such a busy lifestyle, does she have advice for other aspiring models?
“Do it. Get experience, overseas if necessary… Most of all, be patient!”
