Canadian model Winnie Harlow has been chosen to be the next Victoria’s Secret Angel. According to the Daily Mail , the 24-year-old uploaded a video of her reaction to the news to her Twitter account. In the video, Harlow says “oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” and appears to be crying. She is standing with a group of people and gives several of them hugs before the video ends.
Harlow, who got her start on the show America’s Next Top Model in 2014, has experienced a meteoric rise to fame ever since. Prior to nabbing the most coveted spot in the business as a Victoria’s Secret Angel at their annual runway show, Harlow was awarded Breakthrough Model Of The Year at Daily Front Row’s Fashion Media Awards. As The Daily Mail reported, the model was presented the award by her friend, rapper Nicki Minaj. Harlow posted a photo of the pair on her Instagram after receiving the award and wrote, “The accomplishment in itself is breath taking to me! But to have someone I’ve looked up to for soooo long and now call my friend present this iconic award to me.. I’m crying right now writing this. You know I love you.”
Harlow has been featured in Desigual, Diesel, and Swarovski as well as on a number of magazine covers including Elle , Ebony , and Harper’s Bazaar . In an interview with Elle magazine, the model spoke about her rise to fame and about how the industry has changed.
“There is a big shift happening in the fashion industry in terms of beauty standards, and I feel I’m part of that shift,” Harlow said. The model has Vitiligo, a condition in which there is a loss of pigment in the skin. The areas affected often present as blotches on the skin. “‘I remember on America’s Next Top Model, Tyra Banks asked me if a photographer told me to cover my skin for a shoot, would I do it? I said no. I don’t care who it is, or who thinks I should. I’m going to stay true to myself.”
She clarified that she is not a “Vitiligo sufferer” or a “Vitiligo model,” but that she is just a person and a model who happens to have Vitiligo.
“Stop putting these titles on me or anyone else,” Harlow said.
Harlow is managed by the modeling agency Women Management. She was chosen by BBC as one of their top 100 women in 2016.
