KOKOnista Of The Day: Winnie Harlow Is A Top Model And Spokesperson On Vitiligo

Chantelle Whitney Brown-Young known professionally as Winnie Harlow, is a Jamaican-Canadian fashion model and public spokesperson on the skin condition vitiligo.

Winnie Harlow was born Chantelle Brown-Young on July 27, 1994, in the Greater Toronto Area, the daughter of Lisa Brown and Windsor Young. She is of Jamaican ancestry and has two sisters.

She was diagnosed with the chronic skin condition vitiligo, characterized by depigmentation of portions of the skin, at the age of four.

Read Also: KOKOnista Of The Day: Bimbo Ademoye Is The Talented Young Actress Nigerians LoveHarlow was a victim of bullying by other children and was reportedly called a “cow, zebra, and all manner of other disparaging slurs” throughout her childhood by students both black and white. The verbal harassment led to her changing schools numerous times and dropping out of high school, after which she contemplated suicide.


Harlow was discovered by America’s Next Top Model host Tyra Banks on Instagram, and subsequently became one of the 14 finalists of the 21st cycle in 2014. She was the only Canadian ever cast on ANTM.
She was eliminated in the second week of the finals, and participated in a separate competition called the “comeback series”, where she continued to participate in the cycle’s photo shoots along with the other eliminated contestants in an effort to return to the competition. After completing the comeback series, she was revealed to have received the highest average public vote score, and returned. She was eliminated again in episode 13, placing sixth overall.

Following her elimination from America’s Next Top Model, Harlow modelled for the Spanish clothing brand. In September 2014, she walked and closed for the clothing brand Ashish for its spring/summer 2015 collection in London Fashion Week.

In July 2011, Harlow posted a video titled “Vitiligo: A Skin Condition, not a Life Changer” on YouTube. She talked about the condition and answered questions about her life living with vitilig. In November 2014, Harlow spoke in a TEDx presentation, recalling her experience with it.

Photo Credit: Getty

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