Who is Vogue cover star Adwoa Aboah?

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Adwoa AboahImage source, Getty Images

She's worked for fashion powerhouses Chanel, Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein.

But Adwoa Aboah says being the first cover model for Vogue under new boss Edward Enninful is "the biggest thing that's happened in my career".

The "diverse" December edition sees Adwoa styled by the magazine's new editor-in-chief with the headline "Great Britain".

The model's candid approach to mental health has seen her become an inspiration to many.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Adwoa has been nominated for model of the year at December's Fashion Awards

"I dealt with [depression] by cutting off completely from all emotion," she told Newsbeat earlier this year.

As well as depression, the 25-year-old has suffered with bipolar disorder and drug and alcohol abuse too.

In October 2015 she took an overdose and ended up in a coma.

She's sober now and used her experience to found Gurls Talk - an online community for young women to discuss things like mental health, sex, and social media.

Her work there helped her win GQ's 2017 Woman of the Year award.

The magazine described her as a woman of a generation for inspiring "women with her willingness to discuss mental health".

An Instagram picture of Adwoa with Cara Delevingne, Tracey Ellis Ross, external

Her Instagram account is filled with pictures of A-List celebrity friends but even though she's a model, she says she still feels insecure about the way she looks.

"The worst thing to do when I'm feeling insecure or a bit vulnerable is to scroll through Instagram.

"You only show when life is good on social media. Everyone looks happy all the time."

The model posts photos to her 390,000 followers on Instagram., external

Adwoa gives talks in schools, and lots of women write in to Gurls Talk for advice.

Speaking to Vogue, she said: "It is literally everything that I ever needed when I was at school.

"I never would have dreamt in a million years, that I'd have young girls coming up to me at Glastonbury or in the streets of LA, New York or London telling me how much Gurls Talk means to them all.

"How much seeing my picture in a magazine means to them as a woman of colour, it's really cool."

Adwoa has been vocal on the need for diversity in fashion.

Speaking to Edward Enningful, external, she described being black and British as "one hundred per cent empowering and fabulous".

"I love being a mixed-race woman in 2017. I feel part of something big. There's this understanding that we're all in it together."

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