Almost a decade ago, model Winnie Harlow burst on the scene as a contestant on the 21st cycle of Tyra Banks’ “America’s Next Top Model” in 2014. All the girls on the reality show were beautiful, but Harlow, the first cast member with vitiligo, was particularly bold, glamorous and relatable.
Now a supermodel, who has been featured in magazines ranging from Vogue to Ebony, her first starter house embodies those same attributes. The Canadian native, whose estimated net worth is $4 million, found a home within her budget but still with character for her fashion model sensibility.
A Place Called Home
During the pandemic, the fashionista decided to purchase a place, choosing a 4,847-square-feet, five-bedroom property in sunny Los Angeles.
“Me being a Caribbean girl, I wanted hot weather, sunshine, and a really beautiful pool,” she told Architectural Digest.
To help her achieve the look that perfectly speaks to her personality, she hired Martyn Lawrence Bullard, an interior designer whose clients include RuPaul, Ellen Pompeo, Kylie Jenner and more. He worked on the house for nine months, building a beautiful home based on themes of luxury and style. It was a home perfect for the trailblazer.
“I feel like a lot of people would misunderstand my sense of glamour. My house should have a calm energy, but I want a sense of glamour as well,” Harlow said.
Bullard added that his goal was to make sure the home reflected Harlow’s lifestyle.
“Her home is truly a home,” he said. “She fills it with friends and family, so it was very important to make it super comfortable and not pretentious.”
Decorated with a natural base, the colors of the home are white and soft colors, accented by black fixtures. She has a lot of drama with celestial ceiling lights and pictures of Black supermodels such as Beverly Johnson and Grace Jones who came before her.
“I didn’t want it to be just me, so I thought it’d be beautiful to be able to walk around my house and feel inspired,” Harlow explained. “These amazing Black women are people who made pathways for me to walk. I get to wake up every day and see those trailblazers on my wall.”
Bullard filled the house with pieces from retailers CB2, Soho Home and The Shade Store, but dug into the trenches to find vintage statement pieces like a set of 1970s brass palm-leaf floor lamps by Tommaso Barbi, which now grace her living room.
The designer brought in marble tables, bouclé-clad chairs and footstools, a Turkish faux-fur rug and a velvet-upholstered bed; all set the scene for this 1930s Hollywood-inspired oasis for her bedroom.
His philosophy is, “A bedroom should be a space that you get to star in yourself. So these are the props to allow Winnie to do that.”
Harlow has worked hard over the last nine years to afford her ideal living space, modeling for various brands to include Fendi, Swarovski and Nike. She also made history again in her career by being the first vitiligo model to walk in the 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Her portfolio includes campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs, Puma and Victoria’s Secret, along with a Sprite commercial.
But there is more to the model than just a pretty face.
Around the same time as she started her new house journey, Harlow created Cay Skin, a skin-care and sun-care line born from personal experience she faced in 2018. While working, a photographer’s request not to reapply sunscreen sparked her idea to create a product that prevents sunburn.
She launched her skin-care line in March 2022, making it her other “pandemic baby,” and an additional revenue stream to maintain her new home and lifestyle.
