Over the last few years, there has a rise of generative AI models, customised to emulate the various body shapes, age range and skin tones for showcasing new collections.
And supermodel Winnie Harlow doesn’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing.
“For anything in the world, it’s all about how you use it,” says the Jamaican-Canadian fashion model, who rose to fame in the 21st cycle of America’s Next Top Model in 2014. “I think it’s definitely in how we choose to protect each other and ourselves, when it comes to anything that’s brand new. It’s the same [thing that happened] when the internet blew up.”
The 29-year-old has the skin condition vitiligo, which she was diagnosed with as a child, and has helped redefine beauty standards on catwalks and in major fashion campaigns throughout her career.
Harlow says: “There is nothing more magical than feeling seen”, and believes AI can be used for good – to centre black women, especially during the Christmas period.
It’s why she’s behind a new Coca-Cola project, designing her own AI generated festive cards using the brand’s Create Real Magic tool, where users can insert themselves into card designs. Harlow’s images, one titled Joy in Jamaica – inspired by when she spent Christmas on the beach – and Cosy in Canada, a nod to her home Christmasses in Ontario, reflect her experience and what Christmas means to her.
When it comes to buying Christmas cards, she says: “It’s not typical that I can find something that [features anyone who] looks like me. So being able to have an application with Coca-Cola, where you can showcase yourself on your holiday cards is really cool.
“For everyone, their culture is so important. Both my parents are Jamaican. I was born in Canada but my heritage and upbringing has been very strongly rooted in Jamaica. Being able to customise these cards to fit me and who I am, it’s so beautiful.
“Holidays are a time for family as well. And being a black woman, the people and women closest to me are of colour, so when I think about holiday cards, I think of family. It’s a representation of where I’m from and who I am.”
She says Christmas is a good time to remember to think of others. “The most important gift you can give is kindness, especially around the holidays. My mum actually writes on the front, inside and back of holiday cards.”
Now a beauty entrepreneur and the founder of Cay Skin, Harlow, thinks AI is “very interesting and cool – being able to have something that gives you a guideline for your own thoughts, what you want to say and how you want to say it”.
But, she adds: “I think it’s important to make sure that you’re not taking the jobs away from living human beings that are here on this Earth, who need a job and a place to live. AI doesn’t need a place to live. When it can be utilised to elevate a job that someone does have, that’s when it’s really useful.”
When she delved into the business world herself and launched her beauty brand, Harlow wanted to break the “very strong misconception” that black people don’t need SPF, “which is very not true – no matter how much melanin you have in your skin, your skin is not stronger than the sun”.
Adding: “The sun does not discriminate, skin cancer does not discriminate. . Those are things, no matter who you are, what walk of life you’re in, you don’t want to experience.”
Earlier this year, Harlow debuted a new cropped hairstyle – after years of signature, straight locks.
“I loved the look of it [long] I hate the maintenance,” she says. “I love having my hair short.”
“I think it’s really fun for me to experiment and just be able to have fun with my hair. The only thing for me right now just you know, being a black girl. When it rains, it pours. so having an umbrella is definitely a must. But yeah, other than that, I have a lot of fun with my hair.”
It’s about “just being a canvas, especially being a model, that’s part of your job, being a canvas for the art that is created in clothing and campaigns”.
She’s learned not to care what other people think though.
“As long as you’re focusing on being a good person and being the best person you can be, other people’s opinions shouldn’t matter to you.
“If you know who you are, the people who love you, care about you and really know you know who you are, and they think you’re an amazing person, that’s all that should matter.”
Winnie and Coca-Cola are encouraging people from around the world to visit createrealmagic.com and generate artwork to share with family and friends.
