J.Crew Catalog’s April 2009 issue features Ethiopian supermodel {www:Liya Kebede}. The catalog has arrived in many of its stores this week.

Liya earlier this month took Paris Fashion Week by storm — and landed opening Balenciaga spot — and now she’s owning in another area. She’s becoming the first model to be the exclusive face of a J.Crew catalog, and the retailer is picking up pieces from her handmade children’s clothing line, Lemlem, to sell in stores and online as part of their children’s Crewcuts line starting in April.

When J.Crew creative director Jenna Lyons and team met supermodel, mother of two, and International Goodwill Ambassador Liya Kebede, a relationship was born. Lyons approached Kebede to appear in the April catalog, but both quickly realized their relationship needn’t end there. The product of their partnership? Not only will Kebede be the first model to be the exclusive face of a J.Crew catalog, but J.Crew’s Crewcuts line will pick up pieces from the model’s handmade children’s clothing line, Lemlem. Lemlem (the name means “to bloom”) was launched by Kebede in 2007, with all of the pieces made by hand from natural cotton in her native Ethiopia. The line will be available at Crewcuts store locations and at jcrew.com beginning in April. – Fashion Week Daily

See more photos of Liya Kebede here.