Congolese model breaks stereotypes in the fashion world of being tall, fair-skinned, and skinny
Harmony Anne-Marie Ilunga (C), 22, from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Niloufar Saleem, Staff Reporter
The fashion world is usually inclined towards having fair, light-skinned, and extremely skinny models in their industry.
Breaking stereotypes, and accepting dark-skinned women as beautiful, especially in the fashion and modeling world, is still a long way to go.
Amid the subtle hints of racism that still exists, Harmony Anne-Marie Ilunga, a Congolese model in Hong Kong, looks forward to better days.
The 22-year-old black model hardly saw people who looked like her in magazines.
While the world fights hard about Black Lives and their rights, the Asian fashion world still holds traditional, and more precisely racist thinking, when it comes to the models they like to see around.
After constant rejection for her skin colour, and her endless struggle of trying to lighten her skin just so she could fit in, Ilunga finally started changing things around.
She started her own small initiative of having models of all skin types and shapes and sizes in her agency.
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Still hoping she can change minds.
Ilunga's agency now has 32 male and female models on its books from places such as Rwanda, Burundi, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Philippines.
They have enjoyed some successes -- though she admits changing attitudes is hard.
