Shakara made her breakthrough when she appeared in the coveted Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, in the Winter of 2000, and has been taking the fashion industry, and now Hollywood, by storm. The breathtaking Bahamian native just began filming her first supporting role, opposite Busta Rhymes, in the upcoming film "Blood Money". This past February she began filming her second movie as, Tinka in Garry Marshall's, "Raising Helen" staring Kate Hudson and John Corbett. Shakara's first acting role was in the independent feature film, "Prey for Rock & Roll," opposite Gina Gershon and Drea de Matteo for director Alex Seyermark, which was featured at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. She is currently in numerous negotiations for additional roles in Hollywood.
Most recently, Shakara has walked the runway with Karolina Kurkova and Adriana Lima for the highly anticipated Fall 2003 Sean John Woman's Collection during New York Fashion Week at Cipriani. Shakara has just shot the national campaign for Levi's and a campaign for Dove.
Additionally, she has been featured in numerous music videos. She most recently shot the music video for Justin Timberlake's new song "Like I Love You" from his debut solo album Justified. She was also featured in Usher's Grammy winning record, "U Remind Me" as well as Babyface's "There She Goes", off his Face to Face album.
For the third time in a row, Shakara glossed the pages of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, in 2002. She was also the May model in the 2001 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Calendar. Appearing on the cover of the highly acclaimed Singapore Harper's Bazaar made her the first black model to grace the cover. Other covers include Russell Simmons' One World magazine and Tear Sheet's magazine, where she was chosen as one of the featured "50 Most Beautiful People" as well as being the May 2001 cover of Essence Magazine.
Lately, Shakara has been seen in campaigns for Liz Claiborne, Lor? and the prestigious Victoria Secrets campaigns and commercials. She was also featured in the February 2003 swimsuit issue of Maxim magazine.
In television, Shakara has appeared on "Politically Incorrect," CBS' "Early Show," "The Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn," MTV's "TRL", "How to Live Like a Model," and "Fashionably Loud," "The Other Half," and BET's "The Basement." In addition, she has presented at the Soul Train Awards, the Essence Awards, the Source Awards and the BET Awards.
Her interest in modeling came when she met Supermodel Linda Evangelista and was invited to "tag along" with her on a Vogue photo shoot. While modeling part-time, Shakara attended the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and graduated as a top honor student with an Associate Degree in Fashion Design.
