Vitiligo is a chronic skin disease where portions of the skin have white patches due to skin pigment loss, sort of like when someone suffers from 3-degree burns, but more pronounced. It occurs when skin pigment cells die or are unable to function. The cause is unknown but few theories range from autoimmunity, genetics to viral causes. There is no cure.
Canadian-born model, Winnie Harlow (real name Chantelle Young-Brown) from Etobicoke, Ontario, has this disease but has not let it hold her back in life. She was a former “America’s Next Top Model” contestant and although she did not win, her attitude was right on track even then as she told The New York Post in a 2014 article:
“[There was] an uproar on social media. I said, ‘Calm down. It’s just a show — and a reality show at that.’ I was cracking up.”
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| Snapshot from The New York Post 2014 article online |
The disease first appeared on her stomach when she was 4 years old, then went on to her face and hands.
“Once people started making comments, I started to realize there’s something about me that’s not like everyone else,” she says. “I was teased and called names.”
But Brown-Young didn’t let that deter her.
“I just decided I’m going to tell myself that I am beautiful and this is how I may be for the rest of my life. I need to accept it, embrace it and enjoy it.”
That was then…
Now she’s making waves again after starring in two spring 2015 campaigns; one for Desigual, who she was quoted as saying, “… stands for being unusual and unique and atypical, so they figured I’d be the perfect person for that”, and now the face of Diesel‘s spring 2015 campaign:
I wish her the best and hope this story inspires others.
Read more here.
W.I.R.T. are personal articles of interest I share with my viewers…
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