Aya Jones N'Guessan (born 5 September 1994) is a French model.

Aya Jones
Born
Aya Jones N'Guessan

(1994-09-05) September 5, 1994 (age 30)
NationalityFrench
OccupationModel
Years active2014 - present
Modeling information
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Hair colorBrown
Eye colorBrown
AgencyThe Lions (New York, Los Angeles)
Elite Model Management (Paris)
Monster Management (Milan)

Early life

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Aya Jones was born from Ivorian father and French mother.[1] She grew up in the 11th arrondissement of Paris where her family owns a restaurant.[2] Growing up, she practiced ballet, modern jazz, and hip-hop.[3]

She was discovered by an agent who stopped her on the street,[1] and led her to sign with her then-mother agency, The Lions.[4]

Career

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Her first fashion show was for Prada[1] for whom she was an exclusive at the Spring/Summer 2015 Milan Fashion Week. The following week, she was at Paris Fashion Week where she walked for designers including Giambattista Valli, Miu Miu, Viktor & Rolf, Valentino, Giambattista Valli and Nina Ricci.[4] Katie Grand, Edward Enninful and Bethann Hardison named her one of the best models of the season,[5] British fashion magazine i-D placed her at the fourth position of their top 10 new faces of 2014,[6] and Interview made her one of the 15 faces of 2015.[3]

She was photographed by Steven Meisel for Prada, advertising the brand's Pre-Fall 2015 collection alongside Natalie Westling, Willow Hand and Julia Nobis.[7] According to Vanity Fair, she was the 44th most influent French person in the world in 2015.[8] She was also that same year one of the favorite models of The New York Times.[9]

She was on the cover of the August edition of Teen Vogue, which was titled "Meet the new faces of fashion".[10] This cover made a lot of noise in the fashion industry because the three models featured on it are women of color, and it helps fighting the predominance of white models and the lack of diversity in the industry.[11] She has been on many magazine covers since this one, including Vogue Spain, which titled the cover "Black is beautiful".[12]

Jones was noticeably absent from 2017 fashion weeks, because of a jet ski accident in Thailand where she sustained multiple injuries. She punctured her lung and stomach and fractured her arm, pelvis, leg, and cranium. After a full year of recovery, she returned to modeling with an ad for Mango.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Stevan Moskovic (5 September 2015). "The Graduates: Aya Jones". models.com. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  2. ^ "Parisian It Model Aya Jones Shows Us Her Favorite Haunts in the City". vogue.com. Vogue. 10 March 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  3. ^ a b Colleen Kelsey (22 December 2014). "The New Face". interviewmagazine.com. Interview. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  4. ^ a b Marine Poyer (4 March 2016). "Le mannequin de la semaine : Aya Jones". elle.fr. Elle. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Top Newcomers S/S 2015". models.com. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  6. ^ "i-D's top 10 new faces of 2014". i-d.vice.com. i-D. 23 December 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  7. ^ Charlotte Gush (29 April 2015). "Natalie Westling and Aya Jones star in prada's new campaign". i-d.vice.com. i-D. Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Les 50 Français les plus influents du monde". vanityfair.fr (in French). Vanity Fair. 16 December 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  9. ^ "Ten Models We Loved a Lot This Year". The New York Times. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017 – via nytimes.com.
  10. ^ Elaine Welteroth (July 2015). "Go Behind the Scenes on Our Very Special August Cover Shoot!". teenvogue.com. Teen Vogue. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  11. ^ Victor Verdugi (2 July 2015). "Why This 1 Magazine Cover Has the Power to Change the Fashion Industry". popsugar.com. PopSugar. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  12. ^ Yesha Callahan (9 March 2016). "Vogue Spain Declares 'Black Is Beautiful' With Black Cover Model Rocking Cornrows". thegrapevine.theroot.com. The Root. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  13. ^ "French Model Aya Jones Opens up About the Terrifying Accident That Almost Took Her Life". 18 December 2017.
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