Although there aren’t many winners of supermodel Tyra Bank’s series America’s Next Top Model that can honestly say their careers are reflecting their crowns, Banks is still hanging in there and just may be bringing a secret weapon to the current season of the show.
19-year-old Chantelle Brown-Young suffers from vitiligo (a skin discoloration most closely associated with Michael Jackson in which the cells that cause pigmentation die). In addition to her 223,000 followers on Instagram, she can add Tyra Banks to the list of her biggest fans.
Harlow was about four years old when the first signs of discoloration began to appear. She has discussed being teased when she was younger and being called names like “zebra” and “milky”. She was discovered by a Toronto photographer before moving from Canada to California to pursue a modeling career and now uses her fame to promote positivity and acceptance, often posting inspirational musings based on her own upbringing:
“Ever wish you could go back to the younger you and say ‘Don’t worry baby, it gets better’.”
“We have nothing different about ourselves. It’s just skin.“
“I loved myself. And with that, opportunities start to fall into my lap. And I thank God for all of them. Try loving yourself.”
Harlow appears on Cycle 21 of #ANTM which premiered on August 18. She is already making moves despite backing from Banks. Desigual announced earlier this month that they signed Harlow as the face of its Autumn-Winter 2014 campaign and she has already appeared in a campaign for SHOWStudio. We’re loving Harlow’s confidence and unique beauty. In fact, we think she passed the top a long time ago.
Check out a few flicks of the beauty on the following pages:
