Winnie Harlow | |
|---|---|
 Harlow at the2018 Cannes Film Festival | |
| Born | Chantelle Whitney Brown-Young (1994-07-27)July 27, 1994 (age 31) Mississauga, Ontario, Canada |
| Other names | Chantelle Winnie |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Partner(s) | Kyle Kuzma (2020–present; engaged)[2] |
| Modeling information | |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Hair color | Black |
| Agency |
|
Chantelle Whitney Brown-Young[3] (born July 27, 1994), known professionally asWinnie Harlow, is a Canadianfashion model andpublic spokesperson on the skin conditionvitiligo. She gained prominence in 2014 as a contestant on the 21st cycle of the U.S. television seriesAmerica's Next Top Model. In 2018, Harlow became the first model with vitiligo to walk in theVictoria's Secret Fashion Show.[4] She also appeared in theBeyoncé-directed visual albumBeyoncé: Lemonade (2016). She was honored as one of theBBC 100 Women in 2018. Harlow later served as a judge on the second season of theAmazon Prime Video seriesMaking the Cut.[5] Harlow has additionally begun an acting career, voicing the lead role of Noni in theMarvel Cinematic Universe animated seriesEyes of Wakanda onDisney+.
Winnie Harlow was born Chantelle Brown-Young on July 27, 1994, in theGreater Toronto Area, the daughter of Lisa Brown and Windsor Young.[6] She is ofJamaican ancestry[6] and has two sisters.[7] She was diagnosed with the chronic skin conditionvitiligo, characterized bydepigmentation of portions of the skin, at the age of four. Harlow 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.[6] The verbal harassment led to her changing schools numerous times and dropping out of high school, after which she contemplated suicide.[6][7]
Harlow was discovered byAmerica's Next Top Model hostTyra Banks onInstagram, and subsequently became one of the 14 finalists of the21st cycle in 2014. She was the only Canadian ever cast on ANTM.[8] She was eliminated in the second week of the finals,[9] 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.[10] She was eliminated again in episode 13, being the ninth eliminated overall.[10]
Following her elimination fromAmerica's Next Top Model, Harlow modelled for the Spanish clothing brandDesigual and became its official brand representative.[11][12] In September 2014, she walked and closed for the clothing brand Ashish for its spring/summer 2015 collection inLondon Fashion Week.[13][14] She has had for the fashion websiteShowstudio.com. In 2015, Harlow modelled for the Italian clothing brandDiesel for its spring/summer 2015 campaign,[15] which was shot by British fashion photographerNick Knight.[11] She modelled for the Spanish[16] and Italian[17] editions ofGlamour magazine and was featured in the August/September 2015 issue ofComplex magazine.[18] She was also featured in the August 2015 issue ofCosmopolitan.[19] She was featured onVogue Italia's website in an interview and accompanying photo shoot.[20] In August 2015, Harlow shot the cover of an accompanying editorial spread in the September issue ofEbony magazine, where she appeared alongside formerAmerica's Next Top Model contestantFatima Siad.[21] In 2016, Harlow was featured in a commercial forSprite,[22] and was featured in a campaign forSwarovski.[23] The same year, she was chosen as one ofBBC's 100 Women[24] In 2018, she modelled at theVictoria's Secret Fashion Show.[25]
Harlow has appeared in advertising campaigns forFendi,Marc Jacobs,Tommy Hilfiger,Desigual,Diesel,Swarovski,Steve Madden,Nike,Puma,MAC andVictoria's Secret.[26][27]
Harlow posted a video titled "Vitiligo: A Skin Condition, not a Life Changer" onYouTube in July 2011. She talked about the condition and answered questions about living with vitiligo.[11] Harlow spoke in aTEDx presentation about her experience with vitiligo in November 2014.[7] She was presented with the 'Role Model' award at the 2015 PortugueseGQ Men of The Year event.[28]
At the2018 Canadian Grand Prix, Harlow was invited to wave the chequered flag, signifying the end of the race.[29] A miscommunication between race officials led to Harlow being instructed to wave the flag on what should have been the penultimate lap of the race. As a result of the application of the Formula One sporting regulations, the final result was declared based on the positions at the end of lap 68 (i.e., the official race distance was shortened by two laps from the scheduled distance of 70 laps).[29] The error did not seriously impact the race result.[29]
Harlow made her acting debut in the 2023 horror filmAlone at Night,[30][31] followed by romantic comedyThe Perfect Find that same year. In 2024, she made a guest appearance as herself in television dramedyGrown-ish, followed by a voice role in the cartoon seriesMonster High. She had a lead role in theMarvel Cinematic Universe animated seriesEyes of Wakanda.[32]
Harlow has appeared in music videos; these includingJMSN's "The One",Eminem's "Guts Over Fear",Calvin Harris' "Promises", andBlack Eyed Peas' "Where's the Love?".[33][34] She cameoed inBeyoncé's "visual album"Lemonade and was in a video ofLilly Singh (a.k.a. IISuperwomanII) on YouTube named "Three Girls, One Elevator".[35]
In March 2022 Harlow founded the sun care and skincare brand Cay Skin, saying she was influenced to do so after being badly sunburned on a photoshoot, where the photographer requested she not reapply sunscreen to avoid the white cast most sunscreen products leave in photos.[36][37]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Access Hollywood | Herself | Episode: "June 26, 2014" |
| America's Next Top Model | 6th place | ||
| 2015 | Prominent! | Episode: "February 13, 2015" | |
| What Would You Do? | Season 10; Episode 3 | ||
| 2018 | Good Morning America[38] | "Meet the first model withvitiligo to walk in theVictoria's Secret fashion show" | |
| 2019 | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon[39] | "Winnie Harlow Got Her Name After Defending Friends from Some Rude Boys" | |
| Vogue[40] | "Winnie Harlow's Afterparty Beauty Look — Just in Time for Fashion Week" | ||
| The Ellen DeGeneres Show[41] | "‘Fearless’:Ashley Graham and Winnie Harlow Surprise Aspiring Actor" | ||
| 2019-2020 | Keeping Up with the Kardashians | 3 episodes | |
| 2020 | Rupaul's Drag Race[42] | Episode:Madonna: The Unauthorized Rusical | |
| Legendary[43] | Episode:Capes & Tights | ||
| 2022 | The Kardashians | Episode: One Night in Miami | |
| 2023 | Canada's Drag Race | Episode:Lip Sync Slay-Offs | |
| 2024 | Grown-ish | Episode: California Love | |
| Monster High | Dr. Alcott (voice) | Episode: Codex Come Back/Officially Complicated | |
| 2025 | Eyes of Wakanda | Noni (voice) | Episode: "Into the Lion's Den" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Alone at Night | Lauren | |
| The Perfect Find | Suki |
| Song | Year | Artist | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| "The One" | 2014 | JMSN | [44] |
| "Guts Over Fear" | Eminem ft.Sia | [45] | |
| "Lemonade" | 2016 | Beyoncé | [46] |
| "Promises" | 2018 | Calvin Harris andSam Smith | [47] |
| "True Love" | 2022 | Wizkid | [48] |
| "We Still Don't Trust You" | 2024 | Future,Metro Boomin andThe Weeknd | [49] |
| "Soltera" | 2024 | Shakira | [50] |
| Year | Organization | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Gala Spa Awards 2015 | Beauty Idol | Herself | Won[51] |
| PortugueseGQ Men of The Year | Role Model | Won[28] | ||
| 2016 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Model | Nominated | |
| 2017 | Teen Choice Awards | Nominated | ||
| Glamour Awards | Editor's Award | Won | ||
| Shorty Awards | Fashion | Won[52] |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
