Model Winnie Harlow does not only add colour to the fashion world; she’s also an activist for those whose beauty is not commonly celebrated. At first her skin condition, vitiligo, got tongues wagging, but she’s used it to prove that difference is cool.

The 21-year-old first appeared on season 21 of America’s Next Top Model where she placed sixth. Since then she has modelled for top brands such as Desigual, walked the London Fashion Week, featured in Ashish Gupta’s catwalk show in London and starred in SHOWstudio’s campaign. She was also featured as the main model on Diesel’s spring/summer 2015 ad campaign, the aim of which was to promote tolerance, equality and unconditional love. Winnie has been featured in various international magazines and is now an avid spokesperson for people with skin conditions.

Winnie, also known as Chantelle Brown-Young, endured being bullied and was called names such as “zebra”,

THE NEW DEFINITION OF COOL

By Siyamthanda Mtshemla and Percy Matshoba

The fashion world is DITCHING the skinny, picture-perfect model, and embracing DIVERSE AND UNIQUE FEATURES. This shift may be creating a BIG CHANGE in how we LOOK AT OURSELVES.

WINNIE HARLOW IS THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL MODEL WITH VITILIGO.

116 | OCTOBER 2015 | WWW.TRUELOVE.CO.ZA