Cinematic fashion website ShowStudio have made an amazing casting choice for their latest project. They’ve tapped 19-year-old Canadian model on the make Winnie Harlow – who models under the name Chantelle Young. She’s tall, slender, drop-dead gorgeous – but there’s something that sets her apart: she has vitiligo.
Vitiligo is most famous for being the disease that turned Michael Jackson’s skin white. It’s caused by the death of melanocytes – the cells that give skin their pigment – and it affects the skin in patches.
Vitiligo can occur in people of all races, but it is particularly noticeable on people with a lot of melanin (those with dark skin) like Winnie.
Winnie has just come off a stint on America’s Next Top Model, where she made the following impassioned plea:
“A lot of people have a story, a background, but mine is painted on my body.”
Her’s is a truly unique beauty. Here’s hoping more companies make the same choice as Showstudio, and we get to see a lot more of her.
Here are some more great examples of diversity in modelling. Can we see some more of these gorgeous ladies in the media, please?
Top Comments
Carmen Dell'Orefice has aced gracefully? Looks like she's had some work done...
Is it right that a model's aboriginality is included in this list? The rest of the models are living (beautifully) with what many people would classify as a disfigurement. Being indigenous is not a disfigurement, and many aboriginal Australians are classically beautiful, including Emma Garrett.
Hey Sophie, thanks for reading! The gallery showcases a range of models who are underrepresented in Australian media. Take a look here for our recent post on how indigenous Australians are underrepresented in the modelling industry: http://www.mamamia.com.au/s... - x Grace
Have to agree with grace. There were a number of women (African American, Indigenous Australian and white) who were featured for being distinctive looking - gap toothed, doll faced, head tattoo, overweight, etc. Not disfigured, just underrepresented.
Short fat women are dreadfully under-represented in modelling too! Oh, so are women with asymmetrical faces ... : )
actually most people have asymmetrical faces, and experts say that a symmetrical face actually looks odd to most people. Some people have more obviously asymmetrical faces than others but most of our faces are not symmetrical.