Beauty, brains, and a big heart – all these make up the stunning Kenza Fourati, a multilingual model-entrepreneur who uses her influence to effect positive change for Tunisian designers and artisans and to fight for the rights of models in New York.
Born on May 13, 1987 in Lille, France, Fourati and her family moved to Tunisia where she was raised by her father, Kamel Fourati, a radiologist, and Dora Bouchoucha, a renowned Tunisian film producer, and where she attended a French high school. While she had early exposure in front of the camera through local commercials at the age of three, it wasn’t until she was 15 years old when Fourati was discovered and scouted by Elite Model Look after competing and finishing third in a global modeling competition.
Despite beginning her modeling career in the middle of her adolescence, Fourati wasn’t hindered in pursuing higher education in different parts of the world. First, she took on Paris, France where she studied French Literature and Arts at Paris-Sorbonne University. Next, she obtained her master's degree in film studies at Kingston University in London, England. Fourati continued to show her deep desire to learn by studying acting at the New York Film Academy.
The passionate Tunisian-French model has made a name for herself through a lifelong career working with the biggest names in fashion. Fourati has appeared in magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, L’Officiel Voyage, Grazia, GQ, and was also the first Muslim model to appear in a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in 2011. She has also walked the runway for major fashion houses such as Chanel, Dior, Balenciaga, Armani, Céline, Gianfranco Ferré, Jean Paul Gaultier, Stella McCartney, Tommy Hilfiger, Valentino, and Vivienne Westwood. She has also displayed her acting chops in the films Frankie (2005) and Baby, Baby, Baby (2015).
Kenza Fourati proves that her modeling career wasn’t built only for her own benefit. A member of the Model Alliance and Model Mafia, Fourati is outspoken about fighting for fair treatment of models in the fashion industry. Fourati also upholds women from various backgrounds through publishing several interviews with inspiring women for Vogue Italia’s Women of Integrity portrait series.
While she is currently residing in New York, USA, she continues her mission to promote cultural heritage, the protection of traditional craftsmanship, and to nurture artisans’ creative expression. In August 2018, she launched the sustainable focused e-commerce platform OSAY the Label: Our Stories Are Yours (@osaythelabel on Instagram). Co-founded with Simone Carrica, an Argentinian-American entrepreneur who went to the same highschool as Fourati in Tunisia, the project assists Mediterranean and Middle Eastern talents in breaking through the market. All products that they sell — apparel, accessories, and beauty products — are all made ethically and socially inclined. The duo’s combined 30+ years of experience in the fashion industry gave them a clear perspective on what they need to prioritize as Tunisians and as members of the industry. According to their label’s biography: “Osay is an ethical, artisan-based company cultivating luxury goods that are both sustainable and attainable by preserving the craftsmanship of master artisans, while celebrating the art of Mediterranean living.”
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