Winnie Harlow was just 4 years old when she was diagnosed with vitiligo.
From then on, the girl born in Toronto grew up amid stares, rejection, and myths: some people believed her condition was contagious. She was bullied at school, changed schools several times, and, according to one report, even considered dropping out of high school because of the pressure and isolation.
Some people also advised her to forget about modeling and focus on makeup. She didn’t listen. In 2014, she competed on America’s Next Top Model under her birth name, Chantelle Brown-Young, and said during her audition that she wanted to change the way the public sees physical differences. She finished in sixth place.
What came next was built outside the reality show. Today, Winnie is one of the most sought-after models on the international circuit, a vitiligo activist, and a skincare entrepreneur.
In 2018, she was included in the BBC 100 Women list, and in 2025, she got her own wax figure at Madame Tussauds in New York.
Vitiligo affects between 0,5% and 2% of the world’s population. She decided she wasn’t going to hide it.