Sonya Danita Charles is more than just a model with a social media page, she’s a model who uses that platform to redefine what beauty really means and share her real struggles, insecurities, and challenges.
Sonya has a skin disease called vitiligo. This is caused by a lack of a pigment called melanin, which causes the skin to lose its color.
This often attracts stares, curiosity and sometimes even negative comments from strangers, but the bold 30-year-old, who steps out with visible vitiligo, takes it all in stride.
A true role model, Sonya not only accepted her vitiligo, she never let her condition prevent her from succeeding in life. According to Sonya, vitiligo is a condition in which the skin loses its pigmentation because the immune system thinks it’s a virus and attacks the melanin skin cells (melanocytes).
Skin spots are different and look different from person to person. To date, approximately 1% of the world’s population is affected by vitiligo.
art of self love
Some people, like Sonya, have spots on their skin, some have large spots in one place, and others have spots scattered all over their face and body.
“It started with small spots on my face when I was eight years old and progressed through my teenage years,” Sonya said. “Growing up was tough. They (students) called me names like Dalmation and Cow (because of my mottled skin),” said another teenager. said Sonya, who had been bullied.
However, she feels that such situations are happening due to lack of awareness and education among students. “I basically tried everything for my skin and nothing worked,” Sonya said.
After putting numerous drugs into her body, she reached a point where she needed full treatment.
That was enough, so she decided to stop there
17 years old.
“I began to realize that I needed to love
Instead of trying to change, make yourself better,” Sonya said.
Dreams definitely come true
After earning her bachelor’s degree in fashion and business marketing from Woodbury University in Los Angeles, California, Sonya had the opportunity to work behind the scenes at the prestigious New York Fashion Week.she always wanted to try her hand at it
She pointed out that she was good at modeling but lacked confidence.
What do the models in these shows look like?
He had a perfect complexion.
However, the opportunity to model came unexpectedly.Sonya was working
He was in the marketing department based at Pavilion KL and was walking towards the washroom when he saw
A photographer found her.
“I took his business card and didn’t think much of it. A few months later he messaged me again and said everything was ready so all I had to do was show up. I was so anxious that I cried during the filming.
I’m ready to show that side of me,” Sonya said.
Making history at KL Fashion Week
She revealed that her body was completely covered in photos posted on social media earlier. Then I thought of Winnie Harlow, a Canadian model who overcame the stigma of her vitiligo to achieve huge success in the fashion industry.
She then began writing “little stories” with every photo she posted, along with the thoughts, struggles, and anxieties she experienced on social media.
She quickly gained public attention, and brands started commissioning her to advertise in magazines, editorials, and campaigns. She became the first model with vitiligo to walk the runway at KL Fashion Week in 2018.
Sonya founded the Malaysian Vitiligo Association, an online platform to raise awareness and advocacy for vitiligo, and has worked with cosmetics brands such as Lancôme, Estée Lauder, Maybelline, and Sephora.
“As an adult, I started using my platform to raise more awareness, change the mindset behind beauty, and reimagine beauty and what it actually means. ” Charles explained.
“My idea is to change the whole narrative and to raise awareness of people with skin diseases in general and people who look different and teach them that no matter what they look like, it’s what’s on the inside that matters most.
redefining beauty
“My idea of beauty is individuality, because I feel that everyone is created for a reason. I have always believed that beauty depends on what the media tells me or what people tell me. “I believe that it is not determined subjectively, but rather by choosing what you think is beautiful,” she said.
She believes that this is what makes a person beautiful. These days, she says, Charles sees the patterns on his skin as his own work of art, and when colors are splashed on a blank canvas, different patterns appear.
“I consider my skin to be a form of art, in the same way that some people get tattoos and piercings as a form of art.
art. My skin is my artistic version,” she confessed.
spread a positive message
Sonya, a social media influencer, calls herself a “body positivity activist.” She aims to help others be more confident, love and understand themselves more, but she also wants to be honest with her followers.
“It’s important to me to be authentic and show vulnerability. People often say that vulnerability is a sign of weakness, but I feel the exact opposite. It’s about us. Because that’s what makes us human. We all have good days and bad days.”
Sonya wants to actively use social media platforms to bring about positive change in the environment, culture, and industry.
Reach out to Sonya through her Instagram account: instagram.com/sonyadanita