Flaviana Matata

She was born and raised in Shinyanga Tanzania. She mostly raised by her father after the death of her mother who died in the sinking of MV Bukoba during 1996. She attended Kowak Girls Mission Secondary School for her secondary education, and then she did a diploma course in Electrical Engineering at Arusha Technical College before heading to Miss Universe Tanzania.

Matata won the first edition of the Miss Universe Tanzania pageant in 2007,[6] and went on to represent her country in the Miss Universe pageant the same year, where she was placed among the Top 15 semifinalists and ended up in 6th place after the evening gown competition. She was the first contestant from Tanzania to compete at Miss Universe 2007, and compete with a shaved head.

Flaviana was discovered by Russell Simmons who helped her secure interviews with modeling agencies in the US. She then went on to sign with international model agency – NEXT. She now works with The Lions NY, Next Europe (UK, Paris and Milan), Wilhelmina Models US and Boss Models South Africa. Flaviana is currently living and working in New York and has been listed as one of the top 10 Black Models in Essence Magazine and online magazine Models and Moguls.

Flaviana has worked with some of the most respected professionals in the fashion industry. Matata has also done some runway modelling for brands like Mustafa Hassanali,[1] Vivienne Westwood, Tory Burch, Suno, Macy and Louise Gray. Tommy Hilfiger, Jason Wu, Rachel Roy, Charlotte Ronson, Holly Fulton, Sally LaPointe, Alice Ritter, Todd Lynn among others and has featured in the Alexander McQueen film tribute.[7]

Matata is also part of the Diesel + EDUN campaign for Africa – an initiative by the two brands to benefit African cotton farmers. Flaviana is the only model from Africa in this campaign.

She has appeared in advertising campaigns for Diesel, Sherri Hill, Top Shop, Cool Cotton, Clarins, Aerie among others

Flaviana was featured in various prestigious magazines including Marie Claire, French Revue De Modes, Essence, Nylon magazine, Arise Magazine, FA Japan, the Hunger editorial, The Vision (magazine) – China, Grazia Italy and UK, Elle magazine, Schon magazine, she has also featured in the magazines Dazed & Confused, Glass Magazine, L'Officiel and i-D Magazine.Matata is currently signed by Wilhelmina Models.