Bermudian model in the spotlight on UK TV show
A Bermudian model and musician took the spotlight in the UK this week as part of a BBC television series about the world of modelling.
Kyra-Jaye Hinds, 18, was featured in the latest episode of the second season of Models: Street To Catwalk on BBC Three, which premiered this weekend.
In the episode, Ms Hinds – a plus-sized model with vitiligo, a skin condition – was selected as the face of major marketing campaign for UK retailer Pretty Little Thing.
She said: “I just want to be out there. I want people to see me because I want them to feel okay in their skin.”
On the programme, Ms Hinds, who left Bermuda six years ago, discussed her background and her challenges with self confidence.
“When I was a kid I loved to model, I loved to be in front of the camera, and then I broke my leg when I was about 14, which is what caused the vitiligo,” she said.
“It just confirmed every fear that I had of looking like an outcast, so I stopped it. I got more interested in music.
‘When I was a kid I never saw anybody on TV or social media or anywhere that had vitiligo, I feel like it is really important to be that person, and I feel like if I had seen somebody feel a lot more comfortable as they were, I would have learnt to love myself a lot quicker.“
Models: Streets to Catwalk focuses on modelling hopefuls in the city of Manchester trying to make in the world of fashion.
BBC Three’s description of the programme’s second season said: “The world of modelling is changing, and Manchester is its new beating heart.
“Northern fashion power houses are taking over and redefining what it means to be a model today. It’s about more than just pretty boys, and the need for girls to be skinny and over 6ft tall.
“As Models: Street To Catwalk returns for a second series the programme returns to Nemesis, one of Manchester’s leading agencies, under the all-seeing eye of city legend Nigel Martin-Smith, as they search for the next generation of top models.”
Ms Hinds told The Royal Gazette in December that days after she signed on with Nemesis Models, she signed a music contract with Hope Valley Records.
“It just happened kind of fast,” she said. “Apparently it’s not normal for a model as new as me to land [a contract with PLT].
“Two days after I got signed to Nemesis I got signed to an independent record company out here as well – so I’m working alongside both.”