Winnie Harlow on beauty

Brut America

"Your differences are your strengths."  —  Brut met model Winnie Harlow at Festival De Cannes. Here is what she has to say about our perception of beauty.

Transcript

00:00Hello, this is Winnie Harlow for Brute.

00:03Whatever beauty means to you is what's the most important,

00:05so you shouldn't look towards beauty standards

00:08of any industry or anyone else other than yourself.

00:11Your difference are your strengths,

00:13is what I would say to a young girl

00:15who feels like she's different.

00:17It makes you special, and you should love your differences.

00:20You know, I feel like even the top models right now

00:36have a lot of personality,

00:37and I feel like that's what people are looking for,

00:39you know, something that they can relate to,

00:41you know, a real person.

00:43So I feel like the industry is very much

00:46opening up, widening their eyes.

00:50As a child, I was picked on because of the way that I looked.

00:59Kids said they couldn't play with me

01:00because their parents told them I could catch my,

01:03they could catch my skin condition.

01:04That hurt.

01:15I knew I was more than just my skin,

01:17so I focused on what made me stand out

01:19by completely distancing myself from the negativity.

01:22A lot of people said I couldn't be a model.

01:24They didn't stop me.

01:26Don't let the people tell you that you can't achieve your goals.

01:30Follow your dreams.

01:39I submitted my portfolio into many agencies in Toronto,

01:47and I always got response back like,

01:48oh, yeah, you know, you have a nice body and nice proportions,

01:52but we don't know what to do with you.

01:54We don't know where to place you.

01:55So sorry, but no.

02:05You know, when I accomplish those things

02:06and I look back on, you know,

02:07how many things I can check off at the end of the year,

02:10it really, I think those are the days that make me very happy.

02:18I don't know how they saw me,

02:23but they saw me and researched me and found me and contacted me

02:27and told me to get my behind to Barcelona

02:29because they wanted me to do their DOTS campaign,

02:32DOTS capsule campaign last year.

02:36And from there, we just kind of turned into a family.

02:43I'm honored that people around the world find me as an inspiration.

02:48I'm happy exactly where I am, and life is a journey,

02:53so I'm just grateful for everything that's happened.

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