Model Winnie Harlow’s Inspiring New Essay on Overcoming Childhood Bullies & Finding Success
Model Winnie Harlow. Photo: Instagram
At age four, Winnie Harlow suddenly developed a rare skin condition called vitiligo which caused her to develop white patches on her skin. Sixteen years later, the former America’s Next Top Model contestant is an in-demand model, walking runways and starring in campaigns for hip fashion brands Desigual and Diesel.
However, her fairy tale story, wasn’t an easy journey as Harlow has detailed in a candid new essay for Cosmopolitan. Harlow writes that vitiligo was never her focus as a child: “I don’t remember my skin changing, but I do recall feeling deeply loved by my family.” However, third grade brought outside opinions and comments. Harlow endured years of being taunted by children who would moo at her incessantly, likening her skin to that of a cow. It only got worse in middle school when the bullying got physical. “I didn’t talk much to my mom about the bullies,” Harlow writes. “ I just tried to get through each day. I remember sitting by my window, wishing upon the stars that my skin condition would go away. I wondered, “Why me?"
Model Winnie Harlow. Photo: Instagram
Harlow’s story took a radical turn when a Canadian journalist Shannon Boodram saw her Facebook page telling the teenager that she was "strikingly beautiful.” She shot a YouTube video of Harlow, then 17, that has just under half a million page views. Harlow talked to agents about modeling who tried to discourage her, but she didn’t give up. She kept putting images of herself out there on social media, eventually catching the attention of America’s Next Model scouts where she placed sixth, but was a huge fan favorite.
In her essay, Harlow reveals that she had the courage to go back to her middle school recently, except this time as a source of inspiration, not the target of bullies. “They tried to define me,” Harlow writes. “I had to relearn how to love myself by forgetting the opinions of everyone else and focusing on my opinion of myself.”
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