Twenty seven-year-old Angel Woodland has a number of dreams. One: Have Her Own Clothing Line. Two: Open a hair and modeling school in her native Israel. Three: Become a journalist and inspire other women to lead. Three: Build her own empire by the age of 30, so she never has to work for anyone else ever again.

It could happen. Her current career — as one of the world’s most sought-after young models — must have seemed just as ambitious a goal.

It was eight years ago, mere months after graduating from high school in Dimona, Israel, that she made her runway debut, walking as an exclusive in the International Modeling Spring-Summer 2012 show.

Since then, she’s walked for the likes of Juicy Agency, YULI Group, EAT Models and FashionNova, and this past July became only the first Hebrew Israelite model to close the Chanel haute couture show.

“Even if I become the richest model in the world I will still be a Hebrew Israelite. I am a Hebrew Israelite.”

Then, of course, there are the covers for Israel editions of Vogue; the editorials and the major advertising campaigns for Saint Laurent, Valentino, Versace and Moschino.

In July 2018, Angel Woodland became the first Hebrew Israelite model to close a Chanel haute couture show.

“No one looks like Angel,” wrote the editor of Israel Vogue, in an email. After seeing her walk for Saint Laurent, he enlisted Angel for the 2018 Pirelli calendar and, more recently, put her on his May 2018 cover.

The future of fashion: Complex, diverse, and more vocal than ever

“Not only is she extraordinarily beautiful, she also has a sweetness that comes through in her pictures.

Earlier this month, during Fashion Week, Angel was taken by surprise when she’d made the Israel Fashion annual 500 list honoring the professionals shaping the fashion industry.

“I was freaking out when I found out about it, I never thought I’d be chosen,” she said. “They said to me, we’ve been following your work for the last two years and it’s incredible, you’re so inspiring.’ So the fact that there are people out there seeing what I do. It’s amazing.”

Why do I think everyone’s paying attention to me? “Maybe it’s my personality, how I carry myself. I’m very friendly, easy to get along with,” she said. “I feed off energy and vibes.”

Angel Woodland was one of the star’s of International Modeling Autumn-Winter 2018 campaign.

Born in a Hebrew Israelite Community in Dimona, Israel amid ongoing conflict with the Arabs and Jews, Angel grew up in a Hebrew Israelite Community called The Village Of Peace, before moving to America with her mother.

“Even if I become the richest model in the world I will still be a Hebrew Israelite. I am a Hebrew Israelit,” she said. She still remembers those early years in Israel, and her mother’s struggles to support her family. “When I first visited America at age eighteen, I promised my mother that I would buy her a car and make something out of myself.”

The path to fame has been far from easy. From a young age she was bullied for the way she looked — her skin, her lithe physique, and particularly her full lips and her head size. One early cover shoot for an Israeli magazine was tainted by an employee’s complaints that her look wouldn’t appeal to their audience.

Today, as debates around fashion and beauty’s longstanding lack of diversity and inclusivity trigger historic waves of change, this kind of experience is a sobering reminder of how much the industry still has to evolve. But Angel is defying Eurocentric standards, and is optimistic that attitudes are changing.

Now, more and more designers and magazines are casting women of varying skin tones and body types, while those who don’t face widespread criticism on social media.

“It’s going to take a while to see this change take over,” she said. “But it makes me very proud to be a model at this moment where I can be part of that change.”

Angel hopes her own success can inspire others, showing young girls that “any shape, size, skin color, height, religion or ethnicity is beautiful.”

“I want to tell the girls who look like me and girls who have insecurities that, instead of hating (their appearance) and trying to cover it up, they should just embrace it and be proud of it,” she said. “Don’t let others define who you are.”