Liya kebede first husband

Harnessing her fame as a supermodel, and drawing on her experiences as a child in Ethiopia and as a mother in the United States, Liya Kebede has become a leading advocate for maternal, newborn, and child health around the world.

Kassy kebede age

A social entrepreneur, Kebede uses her clothing company lemlem to promote both economic opportunities and access to reproductive healthcare for women in Ethiopia. Liya Kebede was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in Her mother worked in public relations and her father worked as a manager for Ethiopian Airlines. Kebede was the fourth of five children and the only daughter.

Kebede loved to read and learned to speak French and English fluently. But first, Kebede decided to explore her opportunities as an aspiring model. At 18, Kebede moved to Paris and then the United States in pursuit of her modeling career. She lived with her brothers in Chicago before marrying Ethiopian hedge fund manager Kassy Kebede and moving to New York.

In , Kebede landed an exclusive deal modeling for designer Tom Ford at Gucci. At the same time, Kebede became pregnant with her son, Suhul. That same year, she had her second child, a daughter named Raee. Kebede seized the opportunity to work with the WHO to raise awareness about maternal health disparities across the world and to take part in efforts to make childbirth safer for mothers everywhere.

She briefed the forum on the data regarding maternal and child health in the developing world and shared her own perspective, noting the stark contrast between growing up in Ethiopia, where dying from childbirth was a common occurrence, to giving birth in the United States, where she had access to the most advanced medical care.

In , Kebede created her clothing line, lemlem, in an effort to promote the artisanal handweaving craft of Ethiopia. The technique had previously been part of a thriving clothing industry, but as imported items like jeans and t-shirts replaced habesha kemis long and loose white dresses with bright woven trims , the artisanal style declined in popularity.

Kebede had no experience in business, but was compelled to help and determined to figure it out along the way.