Winnie Harlow On Why Representation In Gaming Matters

Here’s one thing I didn’t have on my 2024 bingo card – bonding with Winnie Harlow over our love for gaming. That’s right, the Winnie Harlow. The fashion icon, entrepreneur, skincare brand founder and trailblazer for the vitiligo community.

She’s conquered Victoria’s Secret runways, fronted multiple magazine covers and is even the founder of her own beauty brand, Cay Skin. Her latest project? Entering the gaming space – and she’s done it in the most iconic way possible. As it turns out, Winnie’s teamed up with The Sims 4 – one of my favourite video games of all time – to introduce a much-awaited vitiligo skin feature in character creation mode.

“I think it’s so beautiful to be able to represent your true self in-game. This partnership is a powerful statement encouraging players to embrace what makes them unique – both in-game and in real life,” she tells me over Zoom.

“I really worked for the little Winnie who’d never seen herself represented. And to have The Sims, a game that I used to play as a little girl, want me to be a part of this and making such a big change to allow everybody to feel represented was a real big honour,” she added.

Now reader, to say that I was thrilled to even be having this conversation with Winnie would be an understatement. Two of my worlds collided. The beauty journalist and the gamer, both desperately trying to contain their excitement. I know, sounds dramatic, but to me, this isn’t just another feature added to your average video game.

Much like many of my fellow gamers, I have a very special relationship with The Sims franchise. In fact, I’d say that this game defined my early years as a gamer. As an introverted 12-year-old, I wanted the one thing that all teenage girls dreamt of – to grow up (fast).

That said, I didn’t channel that in quite the same way as today’s Drunk-Elephant-obsessed tweens do through their extensive skincare routines. Instead, I installed a simulation video game and created a character, who then of course ended up having a job, getting married, having kids and even being kidnapped by aliens (if you know, you know). Little did I know that The Sims would lead to a long-term love of video gaming, which then, in turn, led me to interviewing Winnie Harlow.

But having been a gamer for over a decade now, I’ve also discovered that one of the longest-running issues in the industry is the lack of diversity and representation that has echoed throughout, from the people in charge to character creation.