Early life
Darego hails from
Abonnema in
Rivers state. She was born into a family of eight children and raised in
D-line.
[7] At ten, Darego was sent to
boarding school in a bid to shield her from her mother who had
breast cancer.
Darego's mother died two years later, and her daughter has spoken of
how the loss prepared her for the future. As a teenager, Darego longed
to be a model, and despite her
conservative father's wishes, she auditioned for the M-Net
Face of Africa
modelling competition, but was not chosen as a finalist. After
finishing her Secondary education, she attended University of Port
Harcourt where she studied Computer Science and Mathematics.
[8]
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 won 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 one to wear a
maillot as opposed to a bikini during the swimsuit competition.
[9]
In November that year, she became the first native African to claim the
Miss World title (Although past winners such as
Penelope Coelen and
Anneline Kriel are South African, they 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 and soon negotiated a modelling deal with
Donald Trump's management to establish links with modelling agencies in America.
[10] 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 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.
In her homeland Darego has appeared in advertising campaigns for hair care brand Gentle Touch with model
Oluchi, and is served as the face of Arik Air.
[11] She has also graced the covers of
Complete Fashion,
Mania.,
ThisDay Style,
Genevieve,
True Love, and
TW Magazine.
Other work
Darego has judged numerous pageants, and fashion and modelling competitions including Miss World 2014, Miss England 2002,
[12] Mr. Scotland 2002,
[13] and Elite Model Look Nigeria 2012 and 2014
[14] 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
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 at
New York University where she studied
Psychology, graduating in May 2012.
