Early life
The Abonnema-native, Darego, was born in Lagos, the sixth child to a family of eight children. At age two, her family relocated to Port Harcourt where she was raised in D-Line. Darego attended Bereton Montessori Nursery and Primary School, and at ten was sent to boarding school in a bid to shield her from her mother who had become very ill with breast cancer. Her mother was known as Inaewo and had a rice trading business and a clothing boutique. Darego’s mother died two years later after her departure to boarding school.Read more about Women You Should Know
Darego has spoken of how the loss prepared her for tough challenges in the future. As a teenager, Darego longed to be a model and auditioned for the M-Net Face of Africa modelling competition despite her conservative father’s wishes, but was not chosen as a finalist. Darego attended Federal Government Girls’ College, Abuloma. Upon completing her secondary education she attended University of Port Harcourt where she studied Computer Science and Mathematics.
Pageantry
In 2001, Darego was crowned Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria. Contrary to popular belief, Darego did not replace Valerie Peterside after the latter was dethroned as she had competed in rival pageant Miss Nigeria. A few months later she was a contestant at Miss Universe, and became the first Nigerian to place among the top 10 semi-finalists, finishing seventh overall. She was the only contestant to wear a modest maillot as opposed to a revealing bikini during the swimsuit competition. In November that year, she became the first indigenous African to claim the Miss World title (past African winners such as Penelope Coelen and Anneline Kriel from South Africa, are of European descent, and Antigone Costanda, who represented Egypt in 1954 is of Greek heritage). Darego’s victory was widely welcomed in her home country, and her one-year tenure included goodwill trips and scheduled appearances on behalf of the pageant, and a national honour of MFR.Modelling
Prior to winning MBGN, Darego featured in print commercials for boutique chain Collectables, and following her stint at Miss Universe was invited by Naomi Campbell to participate in Frock ‘n’ Roll – a charity fashion show in Barcelona, soon negotiating a modelling deal with Trump Model Management in America. Shortly after her reign as Miss World she was represented by the London and Paris branches of Next Model Management and landed a three-year contract with L’Oréal, becoming only the second Black model to accomplish this feat after Vanessa Williams, and was photographed by Annie Leibovitz, a big name in Americans portrait photograph sphere for Vogue. Other brands she has modelled for include Avon, Christian Dior, Sephora, Target, and Macy’s. Darego has also appeared in Elle, Marie Claire, Allure, Trace, Stitch, Cosmopolitan, and Essence magazines, working with numerous designers including Oscar de la Renta, Marc Bouwer, Tommy Hillfiger, Ralph Lauren, and Gianfranco Ferre.Sign up to the Connect Nigeria daily newsletter
In her homeland Darego has appeared in advertising campaigns for hair care brand Gentle Touch with model Oluchi, and served as the face of Arik Air. She has also graced the covers of Complete Fashion, Mania, ThisDay Style, Genevieve, True Love, and TW Magazine. Other work Darego has judged numerous pageant, fashion and modelling competitions including Miss World 2014, Miss England 2002, Mr. Scotland 2002, and Elite Model Look Nigeria 2012 and 2014. In 2010, she launched a style and fashion reality show Stylogenic on Nigerian television, and three years later announced her denim range, AD by Agbani Darego, which includes jeans, dresses, sunglasses and bags. Personal life In the aftermath of her win in 2001, Darego was awarded an honorary chieftaincy by the Council of Chiefs of Lagos. At the time of her investiture, she was one of the youngest chiefs in the country. Due to her busy work schedule, Darego left the University of Port Harcourt, but after moving to New York where she was signed to Next Model Management and Ford Models, she enrolled with New York University to study Psychology, graduating in May 2012. In April 2017, Darego married her longtime partner Ishaya Danjuma, son of billionaire General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, in a ceremony held in Marrakesh. Together, they have a son who was delivered in September 2018. References https://en.wikipedia.org Featured Image Source: @agbanidarego – Instagram
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