When Nana Darko walked during Miu Miu’s spring/summer 2027 fitting, her skirt fell to her ankles, and Miuccia Prada burst out laughing. Perhaps the 20-year-old model should have rolled up the waistband, as she’d spent her teenage years doing with her school skirt at boarding school in Brighton, where she first developed an interest in fashion. “My friends and I would leave whenever we could, head to Urban Outfitters, scale a hill, find a good sunset and film TikToks in our new clothes,” she says. “I really wanted to be a model, to be honest.” By then, she had already been scouted at 16, while shopping with her mum in Boots on Oxford Street, but it wouldn’t be until her third year of university that she realised that ambition. “I was hesitant. As much as I loved fashion, I thought it would mess me up. Drugs and rejection everywhere.” Her first season, as it turned out, wasn’t so bad. Then again, how could it have been, when Darko made her international runway debut as a Prada exclusive?
Get to know the model of the moment a little better in the conversation below.
Hey Nana! Let’s take it back to the beginning. Were you into fashion growing up?
“Absolutely. My friends and I were so into fashion when we were at boarding school. We had uniforms and would always roll up our skirts because we hated them so much. I remember, we’d be 13 and all we’d do was go on Pinterest after class, leave campus whenever we could, head to Urban Outfitters, scale a hill, find a good sunset and film TikToks in our new clothes.”
What did you spend your first modelling paycheque on?
“Black and red Isabel Marant wedge sneakers. Being so close to fashion hasn’t made me want to buy more clothes, though. It’s the opposite, if anything. It’s made me appreciate quality more than ever.”
You’re from St John’s Wood in north-west London, so your life must have felt quite split, spending so much time in Brighton?
“I feel like more of a Brighton girl, really, than a London girl. I’d also go to Ghana a lot, because I have lots of family members there, which is so fun. When I think of Ghana, I think of beach parties.”
Miu Miu spring/summer 2027.
GoRunway.comAnd had you ever thought about modelling before?
“Growing up, loads of people told me I should be a model, which felt weird when I was, like, 12, but when I started getting into fashion, and watching documentaries, it became my number one dream. Then, when I was 16, I was scouted by the same agent I have now while going into Boots on Oxford Street with my mum. He came rushing towards us and she was like, ‘What does he want?!’, but as soon as he pulled up the IMG Instagram account, I was so excited. I only signed with the agency this June, four years after I was approached.”
Was your mum hesitant?
“She just wanted me to concentrate on my studies, and so I did, eventually ending up doing a degree in urban planning at Loughborough. I’m in my third year at the moment, and it’s not glamorous, working in hotel rooms and trains. I felt quite empty coming back to Loughborough after fashion month, listening to the show soundtracks, thinking about all the friends I made, wondering whether I’d see them again, even though I know I will. I feel like I’m Hannah Montana at times, and in fact, I told myself that I need an alter ego if I’m going to be able to do this, to push through. My family are my biggest supporters now, though. They’ve downloaded Instagram just to see what I do. My mum called me recently and was like, ‘Oh! Jonathan Anderson liked my comment!’”
Why did it take you until now to take up modelling, then?
“I was told that modelling would mess me up, from people who aren’t models. I thought there were going to be drugs everywhere, that there would be constant rejections, that it wouldn’t be worth it.”
Prada spring/summer 2027.
GoRunway.comAnd then you booked a Prada exclusive for spring/summer 2027.
“I found out in August, a month after I signed, while on a job for Gucci in Florence. It was difficult to know how the casting went. I was the last person to walk for Raf Simons, and one of the casting directors was like, ‘Save the best till last!’, but when I did walk, Raf told me I needed to switch it up. He was like, ‘Forget everything your agent has taught you. We don’t do that at Prada. Just imagine you’re walking with your friends after a night out.’ I overheard him saying that I did a good job, then he put me in higher heels, and then three more outfits.”
So you must have been feeling positive?
“I still dropped to my knees in my hotel room when I heard the news, and the actual show was so fun, because I made friends with other girls who were Prada exclusives at the fittings the night before. It helped calm the nerves, because I woke up multiple times that night, thinking I had overslept. The only thing I can remember from the catwalk itself was seeing the audience react and lift their phones in front of their faces. And then I met Awar Odhiang backstage. I told her I loved her and she gave me a hug and said, ‘I’ll see you soon.’ It was all quite overwhelming. I mean, I wasn’t expecting paparazzi to be there as we left the venue, but I was posing for all of them, like, ‘Put that on TikTok!’”
Loewe spring/summer 2027.
GoRunway.comHow did you celebrate?
“A couple of models and I went to the Prada party. It’s so not true that models don’t get along. We all form very close connections very quickly. We’re all in the same position, at risk of burning out, motivating each other. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I was alone.”
Then straight to castings in Paris.
“I found out I got the Dior show when I turned up at the office for what I thought was a casting, but turned out to be a fitting. They were like, ‘Is this your first time walking for us?’ and I was like, ‘Huh? I’m walking Dior?!’ And then I met Jonathan Anderson, who was so sweet, and kept saying, ‘Gorgeous, gorgeous!’ I was staring at him, like, I’m such a fan.”
Is it difficult to navigate those kinds of rooms when you’re so new to the industry?
“You have to lock in. I remember one of my friends asked me if I ever feel like laughing when I’m on the runway, as if that even occurs to me. You have to take it seriously. You’re working with experts in their field, and you have to do your best, otherwise you let everyone else down. At the same time, you have to keep your head held high and be sure of yourself. If you are confident in the fact you deserve to be in those rooms, you’ll always gain respect in them.”
You also walked Dries, Loewe and Miu Miu. How did you handle the pressure?
“I was moving between four different model apartments on the outskirts of Paris, leaving the house at 6am and getting back at 10pm for castings, fittings, re-sees. It’s a lot of walking, and a lot of rejection, which I thought would be harder to deal with than it was. When I didn’t get Saint Laurent, I just moved onto the next thing. Life goes on. There are other opportunities, and ‘there’s always next season’, which I heard so many times. It was helpful to remember that getting an exclusive at Prada was enough. I sometimes feel a pressure to maintain my appearance, to keep looking ‘beautiful’. Because if not, well, it’s my job…”
Dior spring/summer 2027.
GoRunway.comWhat was your favourite show to walk?
“Loewe. I really wanted the outfit I was wearing, it made me feel so confident, but it was so confusing remembering all the turns on the catwalk. Or Miu Miu. My skirt fell down in front of Miuccia Prada during the fitting and she burst out laughing, and I met Gigi Hadid backstage as we were lining up for the finale. She hadn’t realised the show had started by the time I walked and so asked me how I found it. She’s really sweet. I wish I got a chance to speak to Olivia Colman, too.”
Do you have a dream gig?
“I want to work for Louis Vuitton and Victoria’s Secret and just do Dior everything. Outside of fashion, though, I love landscape architecture, and I do see a career in building spaces down the line.”
And, finally, what would your advice be to the girl who just got scouted in Boots?
“Build up your self-confidence before anything, don’t base it on other people’s words. Stay humble.”