Anok Yai made her grand return to Howard this weekend, taking part in the school’s 100th anniversary celebration. In fact, the supermodel was seen all over social media over the weekend after descending upon one of the top HBCUs in the nation.
Tiktoks, Instagram reels, and more were flooded with video footage of Howard students and alumni losing their minds over spotting Yai.
Of course, Yai didn’t just show up in any old thing to homecoming (she is an international supermodel after all). She rocked some serious fashion, as seen in viral TikTok videos. In one clip, Yai is seen strutting her stuff in black heels, tights, a patterned jacket and shades. In another look, Yai was seen in red heels and an elaborate red ensemble to match.
In case you forgot, Yai was first discovered at a Howard University homecoming back in 2017, quickly becoming a viral sensation. At the celebration seven years ago, Yai, a sophomore at Plymouth State University at the time, was seen by Steven Hall, a photographer who was taking photos of homecoming attendees. After sharing a photo of her to his Instagram account, the post quickly went viral, receiving over 13,000 likes and essentially changing Yai’s life overnight.
She told The Boston Globe at the time, “My phone just started vibrating rapidly for a long, long time. At first, I honestly thought someone made a meme of me or something.” That one Instagram photo caught the attention of plenty of people in the fashion and modeling industries, kicking off Yai’s massive career.
Flash forward to today, and Yai is now an incredibly successful model. Just this year, Yai made it all the way to fashion’s biggest night: The Met Gala. Stunning in a body suit with 98,000 Swarovski gems, Yai hit the carpet alongside some of the biggest names in the world at the Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier this year.
At that very Met Gala, Yai told Essence Magazine of her plans to return to Howard “soon.” She told the outlet on the steps of the Met, “I have to come back to Howard soon! I don’t know when, but I’m coming to see ya’ll.”
Lucky for fans, “soon” turned out to be just five months.