I don't think it's good to focus on being celebrated but to celebrate yourself.
— Winnie Harlow
If humans want to see the same types of people over and over, that's what industries will give us. If we want to see something different, that's what they'll have to give us.
I have my flaws, but I embrace them and I love them because they're mine.
I more so appreciate people loving the fact that I love myself and not just glorifying my skin or me.
Kids called me a cow and mooed at me.
When I was young, I was picked on for something that today I feel is amazing. One thing about me connects millions of people around the world. And it's my skin condition - vitiligo.
Focus on your opinion of yourself and not the opinion others have of you.
I love myself the way I am, but people will always message me about other people with vitiligo who cover their skin. 'Winnie Harlow, you need to tell them that they need to love themselves the way they are and stop covering their skin!' No! If that's what makes them comfortable and what makes them happy, let them be.
I feel like people put too much on the title of a role model.
You can't let someone else lower your self-esteem, because that's what it is - self-esteem. You need to first love yourself before you have anybody else love you.
I'm just living life. And if that inspires you, I'm proud, but I'm not going to put pressure on myself to be the best person in the world and tell everyone I have vitiligo. If you want to know about it, you can do your research. Either way, I'm not in the dictionary under 'vitiligo.'
I love to play with make-up. I adapt my beauty look to my outfit, so as soon as I know what I'm wearing, I know if I want to go for a red lip or a smoky eye. I usually won't put those two together, but it all depends on what outfit I'm going for.
I try to keep my skincare routine very simple and don't put too much on my face.
Like any other kid, I was trying so hard to fit in that school made no sense to me. I wasn't attending class; I was trying to hang out in the caf with the cool kids. I was always trying to be cool.
Nick Knight was my first big gig as a 'real' model. Prior to and during 'ANTM,' I never actually called myself a model because I always viewed it as a hobby.
If you're not drinking enough water, or you're not eating enough vegetables, or you're not working out enough, or you're not getting your toxins out, I feel like it always reflects.
I've been doing my own makeup since I was 15. I would steal my mom's products, go online, watch YouTube videos of girls doing their makeup, and try.
Regardless of what race, what color, what sex, what nationality, what sexual orientation - regardless of who you are, equality should always rule! Whatever is right for you is right. Period.
There is beauty in everything.
If God wanted be to be black, I'd be black; if he wanted me to be white, I'd be white, so I guess He chose for me to be both and original. That's the way I'm supposed to be.
I give kudos to people like Zendaya who are like, 'Yes, I want to inspire young kids.' And I'm like, 'Girl, that's a lot of work!'
I am not my skin. I am a model with a skin condition.
My modelling career is about hard work.
We lived on our own for a very long time, and those are my happiest years, me and my mom.
I don't perm my hair anymore, but I'm not a natural hair expert just because it grows out of my head like that.
I definitely hope and I feel that I am inspiring, but I don't like the word 'role model.'
The only person that can make you feel that you aren't beautiful is you.
I'm not a vitiligo spokesperson just because I have vitiligo.
If I'm running around or just hanging out at home, then I barely wear any make-up.
With my skin, I have to avoid direct contact with the sun, so that, combined with my mom being conservative, meant I grew up wearing stockings under shorts and long sleeves under tank tops. It was kind of embedded in me that I was supposed to be covering up.
My sense of fashion has developed a lot.
To be completely honest, I never thought I could become a model growing up. I actually wanted to be an entertainment journalist.
I don't do much cooking because it's impossible when you travel so much. You go grocery shopping, buy everything, and then get a call to fly out for two weeks. By the time you're back, all the food is rotten.
I've always been a lot about beauty and products, and skincare and make-up.
I don't want to be put in a category.
My skin's not a normal sight. When a photographer says, 'I don't know what it is, but that's just not it...' I know. They like the different colours of my skin. They're not getting them with a particular outfit.
My mom will sometimes call me Winnie. It's so annoying. I'm like, 'Who are you talking to?'
I'm happy to inspire your seven-year-old child, but I do not want to be her role model.
Chantelle Brown-Young is my real name. Winnie is my nickname that I was given as a teenager, and it has stuck with me. I've combined my real name and my nick name to create 'Chantelle Winnie.' My alter ego, where I seek confidence when I model, is 'Winnie Harlow.'
For me personally, I have vitiligo, so my whole career, it's always been this very odd debate: 'Does she want to be white? Is she white and black? Is her mum white?' It's always been this question of my background, my race, and what I stand for.
I could more label myself as even a spokeswoman for happiness!
You should be careful what you choose to see as a role model, whereas inspiration can come from anywhere.
Chantelle Winnie is my birth name. Chantelle Winnie Harlow, I call her my Sasha Fierce.
I feel like I am an inspiration. That's the word I prefer. I don't believe that I have to be a role model, someone to be emulated.
I am literally just a human. I have the same brain as you; there's a skeleton under my skin just like yours.
A lot of people ask me how I keep my skin fairly smooth and avoid breakouts, and I think that's because I always take off my make-up before I go to bed, and I mean really take it off.
I'm very sick of talking about my skin.
I want to see different faces on the covers of magazines, the stars of movies, featured on billboards.
I learned to love who I am despite what anyone would say about or to me. This gave me the courage to really stand up to anyone or any obstacle in my life.
When I was in high school, I wanted to be so thick that I'd eat all the pizza and all the McDonald's and everything.
