Chantelle Brown-Young "Winnie Harlow"

Winnie Harlow who you may know from being a contestant on America’s Next Top Model, She is a Canadian model who is well known for having a skin condition called vitiligo. This has never stopped her as she has created a great name for herself in the industry.

Born in 1994 as Chantelle Brown-Young and at age 4 she was diagnosed with vitiligo which cause depigmentation to her skin. Throughout her childhood she moved from many schools due to bullying which eventually led to her contemplating suicide. In 2013 she was asked to be part of a music video for a song called “Natural Me” which then opened the door to her modelling career as she started to get noticed.

Work in the industry 

Chantelle was discovered on Instagram by Tyra Banks the host of Americas next Top Model in 2014. She made it all the way to the second week of the finals coming 6^th overall in that year’s competition. Following her elimination from the show she went on to model for a Spanish company Desigual and is now their official brand ambassador alongside Adrianna Lima. 2015 was another great year for her as she walked in the spring/summer London fashion week and then went on to work with Diesel as well on their spring/summer campaigns. Magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Italian Vogue and the Spanish equivalent of Glamour have all featured Winnie showing she has created her name for herself all over the world doing some great campaigns. As a young model in the industry she is definitely on her way up. Taking part in advertising campaigns for Sprite and Swarovski and being chosen as one of BBC’s 100 Women shows her career is only just starting.

“I’m Proud of my Skin"

The Guardian spoke to Chantelle to find out more about her breaking into the industry and they believe she is successfully challenging the face of fashion with her look. In the interview she stated that "If one day I'm all black I'm still a model. If one day I'm all white I'm still a model." Showing that she doesn’t let her skin define her look. She doesn’t just want to be a spokesperson for vitiligo she wants to be signed by an agency and become a model just like everyone else in the ever changing industry. The comments that get made towards her, that she bleaches her skin and controls how her skin changes are all false and are what makes her stronger and more determined. In the interview she makes a joke and laughs that she can step away from all the hate and look at her bank account and know that she has done well.

Inspiring Others

In 2011 a video was posted on Youtube titled “Vitiligo, A skin condition not a life changer” filmed by Chantelle about her skin condition and how she hasn’t let it control her life. She has also spoke at a TED presentation to give inspiration to others who suffer from the skin condition. April Star an aspiring young model has been supported by Chantelle to overcome the mean words and taunts she has experienced from her peers.

Ashley Graham, Plus Size Model

Model

Ashley Graham, one of the most popular plus size models in the industry right now has appeared on the covers of fashion magazines such as Vogue, Glamour and Elle. Born in Nebraska, USA she was discovered by the I & I agency whilst shopping in an American mall in 2000. Her career started when she signed a deal with Ford Models, then in 2007 she was profiled in Vogue magazine which really got her name out there. In 2009 Ashley featured in the Glamour editorial “These Bodies are Beautiful at Every Size” along with other plus size models. Throughout her career she has worked alongside companies such as Levi’s, Macys, Simply Be and Calvin Klein creating memorable campaigns. In more recent years she has been on the cover of the June 2014 cover of Elle and in 2016 was even the first plus size model to appear on Sports Illustrated – the swimsuit edition – which was a great achievement for her in this modern industry.

“Why Ashley’s our Girl”

Now in 2017 she has bagged herself a cover page on Vogue and an article called “Why Ashley’s our Girl”. This great piece was written by Scarlett Conlon, a news editor at Vogue. She believes Ashley has got the looks, style and energy to be seen on the front page of Vogue. Ashley stated in the interview “For 10 years I’d been told I was always going to be a catalogue girl, never a cover girl. Well, I got with IMG and did five covers in a year, boom, boom, boom". Showing she has the charisma to keep becoming better in the industry. 

Body Activist

As well as being a plus size model she is also a body activist. She wanted to get into the industry, yet she didn’t want to get into the industry as a size 2 or 4. Her way of doing this was through putting her own name out there, posting all over social media using the hashtag “#BeautyBeyondSize” which is what she stood for and believed in. 10 years on and she still stands strong against that which is hard in such a critical industry, she is a modern day super model. In the 2017 New York fashion week 27 plus size models walked the run way and this number should continue to increase over years.

 She has travelled around high schools giving talks about body acceptance to teenagers and how she believes its ok not have a stereotypical look and be different from others. As well as being a body activist she has worked alongside the Themba Foundation in South Africa supporting the orphaned and those suffering from starvation. Putting so much of her spare time into supporting others it shows she cares about making a change in the modern day. In 2016 she spoke some great words at Beautycon with a memorable quote “There’s no reason we need to start telling women who they are because of a number inside of their pants”. She is an inspiration to women all over the world and will hopefully continue to embrace her look for many years. 

Modelling in the Modern day

The world of modelling has become so diverse in recent years with so many different shapes and sizes but, what really makes a model?

People’s opinions have become more open to the idea of a model not being your stereotypical women with legs that go on for days and a figure that everyone wished they had. A prime example of these being the Victoria Secret models who many people look up to as fashion icons and for body inspiration. What people don’t think about is the fact all these models do is train and eat healthy constantly and that it is their full time career to look this way. Then there is also all the photo shopping that can be done to pictures to create the perfect look. There are so many unique looks out there now that need to be appreciated for example Winnie Harlow who was a contestant on Americas Next Top Model or Jillian Mercado who was the face of the Diesel spring 2014 campaign.

Modelling agencies have started opening up to the idea that not all women and men look a certain way and that it’s ok for them to be unique and different in ways. One agency that embraces different kinds of people is the “UGLY models agency” which is based in London, UK.  Something that has also helped different people express themselves and the way they look is blogging, it has given people a platform to express themselves no matter how they look. It also given people the freedom to give their opinion and share their interests in fashion and the media and show themselves off which will help to create body confidence.

The industry is so wide and is used all over the world in many countries which also creates such diversity. Different countries have different beliefs towards modelling and different ways of doing things depending on their culture. There are many types of models out there that can include catwalk, fashion, commercial, plus size, glamour modelling, fit modelling and many more. Models can be of all ages but if they want it as a full time career it can be a good idea to get involved at a young age so the ways of the industry can be learned early.

In this blog there will be posts about the different kind of models out there in the industry and what makes them unique, with each post talking about a different one. There will be a range of different models looked into including different ethnic groups, age groups, models who have a disability, male models, non-conventional looks and some others. It will tell you a bit about the model themselves and explain some of the work they do and how it has an impact on the media since they aren’t your stereotypical white female model. It will also be looked at how they are seen as models whether it’s on the catwalk or in a magazine and advertisements. Posts will also include images of the work that they have done and explain some of the campaigns.