As a young black woman modelling in Hong Kong, Harmony "Anne-Marie" Ilunga rarely saw anyone who looked like her in the magazines. Now the 22-year-old is trying to change that, one model at a time.
She moved to Hong Kong from the DRC as a child refugee. Harmony rarely saw anyone who looked like her in magazines or on posters.
"I walked in this agency, they told me 'we prefer white models than black models' and I just remember walking into that room - I think I was 16 if I'm not wrong. I remember just being shattered, I think [at] 17 I was just like, it just broke my heart," she says.
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Harmony opened her own modelling agency in 2018 and she champions models of all skin tones and sizes.
"Even to my local friends here, they don't see themselves as beautiful. Even if I fight for Harmony HK it's not only for black models or models of colour but it's for people that don't feel confident in themselves.
"Because you look at the magazines, they have set these beauty standards and not everybody is like that. It's just about fighting what the society has created, you don't have to fit into that," she adds.
Compiled by Phelokazi Mbude
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