Jacket, top, skirt, Fendi Haute Couture. Photo: Desiree Mattsson
At just 24, Myriem Boukadida has earned the kind of success in the modeling world that some work their entire lives to achieve. Then again, she’s had a near decade-long career already. Boukadida grew up in the Tunisian coastal city of Sousse, which some refer to as “the Pearl of the Sahel.” She may end up claiming that title for herself. After a trip with her mother to New York at age 15, two Ford Models agents discovered the teenager on the street. Her career quickly blossomed: her first show was for the brand Agnès b, and it certainly wasn’t the last: Boukadida would make her way onto the runway for the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda show, and eventually be the face of campaigns for Guess, L’Oréal USA, and Miu Miu. With over one million Instagram followers, Boukadida’s audience is an asset.
One of her proudest achievements, however, is her appointment as Ambassador of Tunisia for Traditional Dress by the country’s Ministry of Culture. “My goal is to always represent the Arab world and the region, the Arab woman, and everything that’s around that through both modeling and acting,” Boukadida says. The model’s career has been embedded in Europe and the US, far from her actual roots. “Because I’m an Arab model, and we don’t see a lot of Arab models in the fashion industry, I’ve had some challenges… I’ve always had to explain to people my origins, where I come from, what language I speak, which is honestly kind of sad. But that’s why I’m doing this, because I want to represent my country as I see that not a lot of people know about it.”
As for her acting career, Boukadida, who spent time living and working in New York, studied at the city’s Stella Adler Studio of Acting, whose alumni include Robert de Niro and Salma Hayek. She appeared on two television series in Tunisia. Outside of her country, the Paris-based model said she has her eyes set on Egypt next. “There’s a lot of opportunity there. They have great production, at the level of European or American production. I started working more with the Middle Eastern creative teams and created the most beautiful campaigns and editorials,” she said. “These have been so important to me because every shoot was like returning to my roots and my home and I loved that.”
Originally published in the September 2023 issue of Vogue Arabia
Hair: Simon Chossier at B-Agency
Makeup: Linda Wickmann
Nails: Nafissa Djabi
Digital operator: Ruben Kristiansen
Photography assistant: Jeremy Chemin, Arnaud Romatet
Fashion assistants: Luca Tremsal, Alexia Tremsal
Hair and makeup assistant: Mathilde Madeleine Gasparini
Producer: Sam Allison
Local production: Alix Murat at KO Collective
Talents: Myriem Boukadida at Wonderwall Management, Farnoush Hamidian, Aouatif Saadi at Select Model Management
Special thanks: Disneyland Paris
