Winnie Harlow
ONCE BULLIED BECAUSE OF HER AUTOIMMUNE CONDITION VITILIGO, MODEL WINNIE HARLOW NOW INSPIRES WOMEN AROUND THE GLOBE TO EMBRACE THEIR SKIN. HERE, THE 28-YEAR-OLD REVEALS HER CONFIDENCE SECRETS
When a celebrity is approached in public, it’susually by a fan with a selfie request. When Winnie Harlow gets stopped, however, it’s often because someone wants to thank her. She’s the reason they feel more confident, they tell her. She’s helped them feel more beautiful, less insecure.
Earrings, Jennifer Zeuner; wrap, Echo
As the first world-famous model with vitiligo, an autoimmune condition that causes patches of depigmented skin, Winnie’s a front-line warrior in the fight for beauty inclusion – and a hero for scores of women and girls who have ever felt uncomfortable in their own skin. And while Winnie – who has more than 10 million followers on Instagram – has long maintained that she has no desire to be a role model (she prefers ‘inspiration’), the impact of her image gracing magazine covers and sky-high billboards, along with her work as the face of countless campaigns, including ones for Fendi, Puma and Mac, is undeniable. A fan once shared with Winnie the story of their mother, who had spent her life covering up her arms, embarrassed by her vitiligo. ‘They said, “My whole life, my mother never felt beautiful, and then I showed her a picture of you and now she wears short sleeves,”’ Winnie says. ‘It’s beautiful that I can help inspire confidence in people, no matter what walk of life they’re from.’
When Winnie, 28, first came into public view in 2014, as a contestant on America’s Next Top Model, her appearance inspired an unusual amount of media attention for the show, then in its 21st cycle. The media was filled with stories about Winnie, explaining the condition that caused the unique patterns on her skin. With vitiligo, the immune system attacks and destroys melanocytes, the skin cells that produce melanin. While the condition can affect people of any race, age or gender, it’s more likely to first occur when a person is under the age of 50, and it’s more noticeable in people with darker complexions, such as Winnie. It’s often described as a rare condition, but in reality, it affects approximately one in every 100 people – double the rate of type 1 diabetes – making it one of the most common autoimmune disorders in the world. But despite its prevalence, representation of people with vitiligo in beauty and fashion was virtually non-existent. That is, until Winnie hit the scene.
On the day we speak, via Zoom, Winnie’s lounging in black shorts and a tank top in her living room. She tucks her bare legs under a fluffy blan
