At the age of five Ubah Hassan fled war-torn Somalia for Kenya with her father and brother. They became separated from her mother and sisters, who went to Ethiopia. After seven years apart they were reunited in Canada, where they set up home.

At 17 Hassan was talent-spotted by a photographer in Vancouver, and signed to Click Model Management in New York. Now, at 21, she is the face of Ralph Lauren’s s/s 09 campaign. She has also walked the runway for Ralph Lauren, Oscar de la Renta and Betsey Johnson, and been photographed by Steven Meisel and Bruce Weber for Italian Vogue. She lives in New York.

Being 5ft 11½ is wonderful because when I walk into a club,I’m so tall that no men want to talk to me. I love that. I think, just don’t come near me. And I can’t dance if I’m not wearing heels.

A pivotal moment in my career was being shot by Steven Meisel for the black issue of Italian Vogue. The repercussions of that issue have been huge. It sold out everywhere and there were waiting-lists in lots of shops. I had no idea that people weren’t hiring black models. I thought the reason I wasn’t working so much was because I was new in New York and maybe I needed to dress differently or smile more. It’s sad that in 2009, after so many years of prejudice and war, some people are still seeing colour.

I get recognised by the oddest people. I was working in a studio recently and the food delivery guy stopped me and said, ‘Wait a minute, aren’t you the Ralph Lauren girl?’ Then the old Indian guy who I buy my coffee from every morning was really overexcited to see me one day. He’d collected all these newspaper cuttings of me. I was so shocked that they knew anything about fashion or Ralph Lauren.

I refuse to work for designers who treat models badly. That’s happened a few times. They think they can pick you apart at castings but I don’t respect people like that. I don’t have an ego about what I do or don’t do, but I have to believe in a brand before I work for them.

I have to pinch myself every day because life is unbelievable right now. Every time I have a bad day, I just stop and remember what my family and I have been through.

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By Sophie Robinson. Fashion by Daniela Agnelli. Photographs by Karen Collins

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