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American model Nanga Awasum recently came under the spotlight after being randomly spotted by Gigi Hadid on a New York street. On July 16th, Hadid came across Awasum and was left impressed by her fashion sense.
She ended up capturing a snap of Awasum from behind without the latter’s knowledge. Hadid also took to Instagram story to share the picture and called the rising model her “inspiration of the day”:
“Shoutout to my NYC inspiration of the day: this queen. Was too drooling to get a pic of the front, but she was major.”
In response, Nanga Awasum took to Twitter to share a picture of her entire outfit, mentioning Gigi Hadid in her post:
“It's the way @GiGiHadid would have changed my entire life if I was only facing the right way.”
Hadid also made sure to respond to Awasum’s tweet with a sweet reply:
“You were facing the right way exactly where you were headed. Sunshine! Sending biiiiig love Nanga!”
Following her interaction with Hadid, the 23-year-old garnered major attention on social media. She was reportedly approached by several agencies following the encounter and had also reportedly earned a few notable modeling gigs.
Who is Nanga Awasum?
Nanga Awasum is a 23-year-old aspiring model who is making headlines after being noticed by supermodel Gigi Hadid. Born on June 29th, 1998, in Silver Spring, Maryland, she is currently based in Manhattan, New York.
Nanga Awasum’s father is a pastor, while her sister, Azah Awasum, is a contestant in the ongoing season of “Big Brother.” Nanga Awasum graduated from Damascus High School in 2016 and currently studies at Morgan State University. She is reportedly studying to earn a degree in women, gender, and sexuality.
She has been working as a professional model for the past few years. In October 2019, Nanga Awasum signed with Wilhelmina New York, one of the leading modeling and talent management agencies in the world.
Following her encounter with Gigi Hadid, Awasum spoke to E! News about the outfit that “changed her life”:
"I woke up that morning, and I threw on this outfit, and I really, really didn't like the outfit at all, but I had 30 minutes to get to work, and I had to get on set. I was like, God, I hate it, but I have no more time, and I just ran out of the house."
She further shared that the interaction with Gigi Hadid “changed the trajectory” of her month:
"I've been told I was ugly, I've been turned down by so many agencies, I've been turned down by so many jobs, and just to have someone like her see me and tell me that I was pretty and tell me I was major, it changed the trajectory of my month."
Nanga Awasum has reportedly earned a possible brand ambassador deal with Nasty Gal and a prominent modeling gig with Maybelline.
Gigi Hadid's fans and other social media users have also started a campaign to provide Nanga Awasum with a chance to appear on HBO Max’s “Gossip Girl.”
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