Mamuor, top model despite himself: “When I was spotted, I thought it was a scam”

Coming from the Dinka ethnic group, a herding people from South Sudan, Mamuor was far from considering this profession growing up. From his “small village”, and while South Sudan is ravaged by ethnic conflicts which have caused nearly 400,000 deaths since 2020, the only child finally chooses to leave for Paris in 2021, after a Zoom interview of 5 minutes with Elite, his future agency: “I decided to leave once we took care of all the administrative formalities, and in particular my passport. If I embark on an adventure, good or bad, I first see it through to the end and then I talk about it to those around me. So when I was spotted, I didn't warn anyone. I waited until the week before my departure to tell my mother. She started screaming and told me: 'if you want to die, you do it alone'. I said to myself: 'ok, I'll take her at her word, I'll do everything on my own. And if it works, I'll call her back, and I'll send her the money she needs.'

In Paris, it only took a few months for Mamuor to establish himself on the catwalks, and go from model to the coveted status of “top” model. “Everyone was captivated by his face. Mamuor had such a strong physique, so special. We said to ourselves that we couldn’t miss out,” insists Antoine Guyot, his agent at Elite. Between two shows, the new model barely leaves her apartment: “I was so excited at the idea of ​​seeing everything, of going everywhere, but when I arrived in Paris, it was so cold. It was so cold for me that I stayed cooped up in my apartment.” A transition that will take him a few months, but which will not stop him from working. And to shine.

From Balmain man to designer of his own label

In less than 5 years, he became the favorite of the big houses, starting with Balmain. Olivier Rousteing, the artistic director of the French brand, is one of the first to trust him. “He emerged in the industry more than other profiles thanks to his tenacity and strength of character. Beyond his beauty, he has a real desire to succeed, an incredible strength of conviction, and a very sharp fashion vision. He knows how to appropriate the codes of the houses with which he works,” analyzes Olivier Rousteing. And the Bordeaux resident made her the figurehead of a good part of his men's fashion shows where the South Sudanese impresses with his magnetism, and his ease – her again! – on the podium. “There was a before/after Mamuor. The industry was subsequently much less cautious about booking this type of physique. Everyone took the lead. Designers [comme Olivier] have thus made it possible to develop a new generation of male models,” adds Antoine Guyot. Of Rousteing, Mamuor also says that “he is talented, handsome, the best guy I have met in my life”. “A mixture of accuracy and innate elegance,” Rousteing says of the boy.