Anok Yai On Facing Her Mortality and Looking At Life Through New Eyes

“You know when you interview someone and you know they're gonna be a star?” Chioma asks Chloe on today’s episode of the podcast. For Chioma, that moment came in the winter of 2020 when she first interviewed Anok Yai for the April Global Runway cover. Back then Yai was just at the beginning of her career, and now six years later, in celebration of her June British Vogue cover story, Chioma chatted with her again, this time for the podcast.  With couture just around the corner, Yai is working out and journaling but the couture schedule is much more laid back. She’s grateful for the more open schedule as well as for the intricate pieces she gets to model. Recalling an Alexander McQueen show which she considers one of the most distinct she tells Chioma that upon looking at the dress she remarked “I can’t believe a human being made this.”  The British Vogue profile, written by British Vogue’s Beauty and Wellness Director Funmi Fetto, explores a recent difficult chapter in Yai’s life in which she became seriously ill. Yai becomes emotional, talking to Chioma about that challenging period. “While I was in the hospital, I wasn't really thinking about my career at all. And then there was one day when I was feeling frail. I remember thinking, "Oh, I could pass away right now, and there's nothing I can do about it."” “It took a while for me to find an understanding of why,” she says. But it has also given her a new lease on life and a perspective for how precious and fragile life is, ‘I respect what I was put through.I look at life with whole new eyes.” Recovery was a slow road but she credits her friends and family for supporting her through that period.  They also talk about the shoot itself and being on set with two of her closest collaborators, photographer Rafael Pavarotti and hair stylist Jawara, as well as both of her parents—a family affair! Also on today’s episode, Chloe and Chioma share about their recent mini vacations to Il Pellicano, Italy and Charleston, South Carolina respectively and look ahead to this weekend which might contain the wedding of the century: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices