The whole process was super long and hard. I first lost my hair when I was 10 years old within only one month. Being so young, living in a small town and especially during a time with no social media, made it all even more difficult. I felt so alone and like a complete alien. I could find no one that looked like me. I went through a big depression as a kid.
Everybody looked the exact same where I grew up. So, for me, the obvious “solution” to that “problem” was to hide my bald head. I wore wigs from 10 to 12 years old. Nobody knew for a fact that I was bald. Some people were asking questions obviously and some children would try to pull on my wig but it never fell off. I actually do not have that many memories of those two years with a wig.
Today, I feel like the situation would be different. With social media, the world being a little more accepting and progressively promoting more diversity, it is finally possible for children with alopecia to find people to identify with.
Thankfully my hair grew back during high school so for 7 years I “only” had bald patches to hide.
It took me 9 years before I publicly started to talk about it and truly accept it. Nine years is a long time when you are hiding something! What truly helped me is meeting other people with alopecia through an organisation in the US called Children Alopecia Project.
Then, I lost my hair again when I was 19. That’s when everything changed. I truly decided that this time would be different and that I would do anything I could to be the person I was looking for as a child.
Contrary to what many people think, most times there are no triggers at all for alopecia. Anyone could lose their hair tomorrow for no apparent reason. Obviously, we saw many doctors when I first lost my hair but nobody ever found out why it started.
Alopecia is an auto-immune condition that makes your hair fall off. It is simply your auto-immune system that attacks your hair because it sees it as a threat. For that reason, I like to compare it to allergies because it is similar in a certain way; nobody knows why the body is rejecting a specific type of food, just like nobody knows why the body of someone with alopecia is rejecting their hair. That is also why I really insist on using the word condition while talking about alopecia. I’m perfectly healthy!
Countless articles about alopecia seem to love using the expression “suffer from alopecia” and I think that should change. It is really not helping to destroy the stigma around the condition. Instead, I prefer to say I have alopecia, just like someone has allergies.
I am not saying having alopecia is easy. It can be really hard mentally and emotionally. It can be really isolating without the right help and/or the right mindset. However, it is harder specially because people can be really mean because they are not aware of the condition or they are totally misinformed.
My interest in the modeling industry started at 10 years old when I first lost my hair. I was already going through all the agencies’ website but just trying to find someone that looked like me. Also, I was trying to find some sort of definition for beauty because I thought I was anything but beautiful. I really did not think I would ever become a model until I turned 18 years old. The industry was just fascinating to me.
Fast forward, I truly started modeling seriously only at the end of 2020, when I met my mother agent Chantale Nadeau. I am the one who reached out to her. She is truly the best.
Without even knowing it, she helped me find my own definition of beauty.
Exactly one year later, I was off to Milan and from there I came to Paris and met my current agent here, Benedikt at The Waves.
My first fashion week was in March 2022.
I really like Henrik Vibskov’s vision and energy. He is so relaxed and he connects with everyone in the show. That truly translated in his presentation because we could express ourselves so much. It was a really interesting experience since the presentation felt more like a dance. However, I think I prefer something in between, like the show I did with them in June. Working with them definitely made me want to go to Copenhaguen fashion week.
Actually, I am moving to Paris in September! I always knew I was never going to spend my life in Canada. The market is really commercial over there. Paris definitely has a lot more to offer in terms of opportunities and I really like my agency here.
The “fashion world” expression is so large. If I thought the fashion world was cruel I wouldn’t want to be part of it. Some parts of it are definitely tough but I’ve met so many genuine creative people in fashion. To me, the fashion world is really about connecting with people through art. I actually think I will continue evolving in this industry after modeling. Since I started, I have been dreaming of becoming an artistic director.
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