What does a 23-year-old Gen Zer with 13 dollars in her bank account (aka me) have in common with world-famous model Winnie Harlow? The Sims. Self-proclaimed gamer girls, we both grew up playing The Sims — me with my decrepit PC and Harlow with her neighbor’s computer. Though I mostly stuck to outlandish gameplay like the 25-baby challenge, Harlow was the opposite, using her virtual world to live out her dreams of owning a Hollywood-inspired home and being the first well-known model with vitiligo.
If it sounds like manifestation, that’s because it is. Not only is Harlow a global superstar on a bajillion magazine covers and the face of ad campaigns for brands like Fenty and Puma, she’s also an inspiration and icon to those living with autoimmune skin conditions like vitiligo. That dream Hollywood-inspired Soho Home she created as a teen in The Sims? Yeah, she now owns that IRL, which makes her collab with EA’s The Sims 4 game an even bigger full circle moment.
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Starting February 13, vitiligo will now be an available skin feature for all Sims, no matter age or gender (or occult type too!). Gamers will be able to customize their Sims’ vitiligo by changing the pattern’s shape and placement. But that’s not even the best part. In addition to the new custom feature, The Sims 4 will also release a Winnie Harlow-inspired Sim and her Hollywood home into the gallery for gamers to download. All for free.
“This is something that my younger self would honestly cry about because the changes that I've seen in the world of representation in my lifetime have been insane,” she says. “To be a part of this launch has been just so rewarding. To be able to think back to my younger self and kind of talk to her in my head.” Many Black girls like myself know the feeling. There’s nothing more extraordinary than seeing yourself represented for the first time on-screen.
And Winnie The Sim is extraordinary. She looks just like her IRL self, from her wavy Black hair to the exact placement of her skin patterns. Oh, and her in-game Sim sounds like the model too because *surprise* Harlow recorded a few lines of Simlish, The Sims’ default language. Naturally, I asked her how she did it because who in the hell can pronounce that? Her answer? “I’m a very fluent girl in that Sim world.”
Harlow’s skills extend beyond practicing Simlish and into decorating her virtual Hollywood home. Her Simmified mansion is a replica of her Los Angeles five-bedroom house with its pink glam room, which features her larger-than-life vanity and gallery wall full of her magazine covers. Her 1930s-inspired bedroom with its faux fur rugs and upholstered bedroom set have been included too. The only difference between her IRL home and her virtual sanctuary is a cute, chic indoor spa for her Sim (and yours too) to enjoy some much-deserved TLC.
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While this launch is a gift to little Winnie, it’s also for “the kids [who don’t have vitiligo] who will be able to utilize vitiligo as the skin on Sims and then see somebody out in real life,” she adds. It's a long-needed step for representation, but one I wonder could possibly be misconstrued. A skin condition can be turned on and off in a game, but not in the real world where there are real consequences (like discrimination and prejudice) for being or looking like anything other than the “norm.” Inclusivity and representation in any space, be gaming or fashion, is a constant uphill battle, so it can feel weird that gamers can pick and choose features like vitiligo at whim, while those who have vitiligo or other skin conditions aren’t afforded that luxury. That’s not to say we shouldn’t include autoimmune conditions in games, but it could be interpreted as slightly performative and possibly a bit minstrel.
But Harlow doesn’t see it that way. Instead, she insists this feature makes it easier for kids with vitiligo, adding that “it allows [vitiligo] to become a norm and not something that is tokenized.” Having more vitiligo representation in games de-stigmatizes it in real life. Winnie explains it like this: a kid playing an avatar with vitiligo in The Sims or any other game means they won’t be surprised when they see someone with vitiligo in the real world. She likens it to modeling, saying that she always felt like a “wow factor” and that she worried her career choices would deflect from the movement of representation. That’s not the case with this Winnie x The Sims 4 collaboration, she argues. “When something like this comes out, it becomes a movement and not just a moment,” a movement that she hopes will further the bounds of representation in gaming and any creative industry — and more importantly, give credit where credit is due.
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“There have been so many times when brands or companies or even games have created things that emulate me and look like me without my permission or without reaching out to me, dolls [included],” Harlow says. It’s why this partnership means so much to her. The Sims was the first gaming brand to reach out and collaborate together. She wants gaming to have its Fenty effect, that is “setting the standard for inclusivity and [being] able to meet that standard or surpass it because there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to.” But it can’t happen without including her or people who look like her in the process. Without Winnie, would those brands be interested in showcasing vitiligo? If the answer is no and I think it is, then stop playing in my good sis’ face and hit up her line.
In the meantime, while she waits for the gaming industry to get off their asses and have vitiligo in every game (my words, not hers), she’ll be playing the bazillion games on her phone. Because, yes, dear Winnie is a phone gamer. “I’m that auntie that has all the games on their phone, so my god kids are never bored.” She does tell me, she’s slowly getting back into The Sims but traveling makes it difficult. Being a supermodel will do that to you, I guess.
But that’s okay. I’ll play Winnie enough for the both of us. And do a little manifestation while I’m at it, I tell her. My Sim is going to be rich, so I can be rich in 10 years. She laughs, a smile evident in her voice. “Manifestation. Amen.”