When Xueli Abbing was abandoned at an orphanage as a baby, she had no idea she’d grow up to be a model for Vogue. But, after a few interesting turns in her life, she made it as an international model at age 16. You never know where the world will take you, or how things will end up.

The orphanage named her Xue for “snow” and Li for “beautiful.” As an infant, Xueli was abandoned at the doorstep of the orphanage due to either how she looked, or because of China’s one-child policy. Regardless, the staff at the orphanage loved Xueli. It was only a short while there until a family from the Netherlands adopted the Chinese girl.

Xueli Makes it to Vogue

In some cultures, albinism is seen as a curse, or something to fear. In certain countries in Africa, those unlucky children born with albinism are sometimes killed for their bones, their hair, and their eyes. They are falsely believed to be medicinal or use or for witchcraft.

At age 11, Xueli started modeling. Her mom got in touch with a designer friend who was running a campaign called “perfect imperfections,” and thought Xueli would be perfect.

After that, I was invited on a couple of photo shoots and one of them was for Brock Elbank at his studio in London. He published my portrait on Instagram, and Zebedee Talent modelling agency got in touch. They asked if I wanted to join them in their mission to get people with disabilities represented in the fashion industry.