“Vitiligo Made Me Famous, But It is Not Who I Am”

Model-turned-beauty-founder Winnie Harlow shares the story—her story—that no one else wants to.

- Winnie Harlow

I am a Jamaican Canadian who never took no for an answer. I am a woman. I am a Black woman. I am my mother’s child. I love my family, chosen and given. I never pass up an opportunity for a prank. I am all these things, and so much more, before what is happening with my skin.

I started developing vitiligo—an autoimmune condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the melanin-producing cells in skin and hair, causing de-pigmented patches—when I was four. It felt incredibly isolating as a child.

I vividly recall being in third grade and trying to befriend two girls who would run away from me because their mothers did not want them to ‘catch’ what I had, as if I were contagious.

Thankfully, though, I grew up with a family who made me feel loved and worthy. They poured their energy into me endlessly, and I credit them with the confidence that I have today. If you know anything about Jamaican women, you know that we have no shortage of confidence. And it is that self-esteem—not the promise of fame—that propelled me to achieve many firsts.