Achieng Agutu

Over the past few years, Kenya native Achieng Agutu has amassed a following of over 878,000 on Instagram alone. Initially, feeling disparaged by the fact that she was the only Black woman in her classes throughout her years of undergraduate and graduate studies, she started making digital content to hype herself up. She would post videos of herself dancing in the morning and being her own “Hype Woman.” People quickly began voicing their appreciation for her content, allowing her to understand the positive impact she could have.

Since, major brands like Ole Henriksen, Victoria’s Secret, Shea Moisture, Make Up For Ever and Away have reached out and cultivated partnerships with Agutu. Likewise, she was featured in an issue of Vogue, which named her the “Confidence Queen.”

After making her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit debut as a rookie in 2024, she returned to the fold for the 2025 issue, posing in Bermuda for Ben Watts’s lens.