Mitchelle Daka: From Budaka to high fashion

Mitchelle Daka is tall, really tall. In fact, she is 183cm tall (6 feet and a bit). But, according to her, it is not just the height that made her a top model.

"People have this misconception that the taller you are, the better model you will be," she said when we met last week at Acacia Mall.

"Being tall is, of course, good, but not too tall. The ideal modelling height is actually 178cm (5'8"), because then, you can do both commercial and high fashion. That's the ideal."

From since she was a young child, Mitchelle (don't forget the ‘t', she insists) had always wanted to be a model. She had always been told, because of her height, that she should either play basketball or go into modelling.

Her chance came when the family moved to Nairobi in 2011. At the tender age of 13, she took part in the Nairobi leg of the Elite Model Look competition, ‘just for the kicks', and won it.

"Before that, it was something of a young girls' dream, and the girls I was competing with were much older than me, and all looked amazing. I knew I did not stand a chance," she said. "But then I won! It was a big shock."

But she would have to wait a few years before she could actually become a professional model because her dad, understandably, did not want his 13-year-old-daughter, however tall she might be, in the murky world of fashion.

It was not until they moved to South Africa four years later that Mitchelle actively started pursuing her dream of modelling, and began searching for agencies to represent her. But she was in for a shock.

"I thought you just walk into an agency, they look at you, and if they like you, sign you on," she said. "But that's not how it works. Most times the agencies are just too busy to look at girls that walk in, and there are always plenty of them doing just that."

Mitchelle Daka at the 2019 Johannesburg Fashion Week walking for designer Taussy (left) and Rich Factory (right). Courtesy Photo

She particularly wanted to sign for the Boss Modelling Agency, but after being rejected twice, she decided to try another method. So she sent them an email with examples of work she had done before. The very next day, Boss Modelling called her back and her modelling journey officially started.

But she was still in school (university, actually) and her dad was still not convinced that modelling was an actual career choice. So she did her modelling while studying for her university degree.

"But as soon as I got my bachelor's degree, I told my dad, that's it. Time to start modelling seriously," she says with a smile. "Of course he still did not believe modelling was serious business and was actually quite angry with me."

At 21 years, Mitchelle became a full-time model and found it was not quite all just glitz and glamour as it might appear. For one, it is very competitive, and a girl has to learn how to manage her finances if she is to survive.

Typically agencies will advance models money, find them apartments and give them an allowance. Then they deduct money from the model's earnings. Mitchelle says it is important for a model starting out to have a separate source of income for when jobs aren't coming in consistently, otherwise they will find themselves in debt with the agencies.

"My dad taught me at an early age how to manage my money, and I started saving from when I was young. So I always had something to fall back on," she said. "I always had a side gig of sorts, and I dabbed in forex trading and made quite a bit of money."

The dark side of modelling

The unglamorous side of modelling appears when some clients do not treat the models well or when designers have the wrong attitude. She recalls a time when they were booked for a whole day's shoot, but no provisions were made for the models' food and refreshments.

Then there is the ‘escort' side of modelling when sponsors book models to hang around events or places and they get paid in return.

"You have to be very careful with escort jobs, because at times they can get nasty, although the agencies try to make sure as much as they can that nothing goes wrong, otherwise their reputation can be ruined," she says. "But it is easy, especially for very young girls just starting out, to be sucked into the high life of luxury. You're hanging out with superstars and dining at exclusive places, so it is easy to get used to that life and forget you're actually a working girl."

There have been stories of sexual harassment, but Mitchelle says she has never personally experienced it.

"I've heard stories, but it really depends on how you carry yourself and don't let people take advantage of you."

Highest point in career so far

Mitchelle's highest point in her modelling career so far came last year when she was chosen to take part in a campaign by Dior. And she did not even know she was going to work for one of the world's most luxurious brands.

A month before the Dior shoot, her agency sent her a message that an international brand wanted to book her for a campaign. They did not tell her who the client was, and she did not ask, figuring it could be one of the many.

Even though they had booked her, she still had to show up for the casting, and that was when she realised who the client actually was.

"I got to the casting and saw all these bags with Dior on them. I almost died," she said. "It was the most amazing thing, a dream come true, really. I was finally doing high fashion. No looking back, after that. The actual shoot was out of this world, I had never seen a production that size; and met many international models I looked up to."

And that was when her dad finally came around and realised that modelling was actually something to be proud of.

"He was telling everybody how his daughter had modelled for Dior," she laughs.

Lowest moment

Mitchelle had a friend she met at university, and the way she tells it, was probably her only friend in a foreign country. They were very close, and the family had more or less taken her in, but then tragedy struck.

"You can live in South Africa, but not know the ugly side of it, although you hear about it all the time," she said. "My best friend was killed by her boyfriend, because she wouldn't take him back after they broke up. It really devastated me, she had so much energy and could have achieved so much. But her life ended just like that. That was a very low moment for me, and I almost went into a depression. But I moved to Cape Town and slowly pulled my life back together."

Mitchelle Daka (left) at a Dior campaign shoot. Courtesy Photo

Strong points as a model

"Apart from my height, it is my personality. People feel comfortable with me. I have also been told that my features are quite unique, and that helps in the modelling world. If you look ordinary, you won't get many jobs. The skin is a big factor, and in fact very light girls actually have a disadvantage. But I am lucky in that I can do the commercial pretty girl stuff, and then high fashion. Ultimately that is what you want as a model, you want to be able to do both."

Ugandan international models

"Ugandan girls are doing an amazing job modelling internationally and you have to thank Joram Muzira for pushing them there. But heading straight to Europe has its problems, so I would advise new models to first do South Africa.

About family

"I am quite the mixture," she says with a laugh. "I'm from Budaka, that's where my dad comes from, although he has Sudanese blood in him, which I guess explains my height. So we are Badama. My mum is from Malawi, and we have lived in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa."

In total, they are 11 siblings, although only two have the same mother. So as a young girl, Daka moved from ‘mother' to new ‘mother' as her dad broke up and started new relationships.

"It did not really mess me up, although it was tough when I became attached to a ‘mother', and then a new one came along. That explains why I am really a loner, although I make friends easily."

The move to Dubai

"I had always wanted to live in Dubai, but then again I think I had outgrown South Africa," she explains. "There was a danger I would ‘settle' down and do what all my friends are doing — get married and have children. But that's not what I want right now. And Dubai is central, easy to get to the European market."

When she expressed her wish to move to Dubai, her agency made the arrangements and found her a sister agency there.

Plans for the future

 "Like they say, I'll take New York," she says with a laugh. "But before that, I have to conquer Europe, so that is the immediate plan. In April, I am going to Milan, and hopefully by the time the New York Fashion Week comes around, I would be famous enough to make it there."

Mitchelle says t it is important to walk at the New York Fashion Week, which is the first and biggest of the big four.

"If you are cast in New York, chances are very high you will also be cast for London, Milan and finally Paris. That's my plan."