She was thrown away like a secret.
A newborn left at an orphanage door, dismissed as “too weird” to keep. Years later, that same child stepped onto the world’s most powerful runways, her pale skin and snow-white hair no longer a curse, but a weapon against ignorance and hate. Her journey from abandoned baby to global symbol of defiance and beauty is just getting sta…

Born in China with albinism and abandoned as an infant, Xueli Abbing began life carrying a label that many considered a curse. Orphanage workers named her “Xueli” – “snow” and “beautiful” – a quiet act of defiance against the prejudice surrounding her. Adopted by a Dutch family, she finally received the safety and love every child deserves, even as the world still often stared, whispered, or turned away.

A chance invitation to a Hong Kong photo shoot at 11 opened a door she never knew existed. From there, a London photographer helped her step into high fashion on her own terms, culminating in a striking spread in Vogue Italia. Now Xueli uses her visibility to challenge the fetishizing and dehumanizing of people with albinism, insisting on being seen as a person first, diagnosis second. Her message is simple and radical: difference is not a flaw to hide, but a light to protect and amplify.