Congolese model Harmony "Anne-Marie" Ilunga is pushing for diversity in Hong Kong media––we spoke to her about her work, her future goals and her recent collaboration with Josie Ho
After years of facing the Hong Kong’s backwards beauty ideals, Harmony “Anne-Marie” Ilunga decided to start her own modelling agency. The 22-year-old Congolese model, who has called Hong Kong home since she was young, runs Harmony HK, an agency with a portfolio of diverse faces.
Ilunga moved to Hong Kong in 2011 as a child asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She describes facing normalised racism in Hong Kong growing up—something that failed to change as she grew older and ventured into the world of modelling. Ilunga recently told SCMP she had been turned away from jobs because people openly told her they “prefer white models”.
Founded in 2018, her modelling agency Harmony HK works to represent this overlooked group by focusing on promoting refugees, people of colour and those from minority groups through fashion shows, music and art.
At Tatler’s inaugural Front & Female event in July, an event championing unconventional women, 10 women gathered for a discussion on defying expectations and forging your own path in life. Ilunga and 11 other women from all walks of life joined the evening, including our June cover star, Josie Ho.
The event sparked a partnership between our cover star and Ilunga, with Ho inviting her to join forces and take part in a shoot for L'Officiel magazine in Australia.
Here, Ilunga discusses the power of her work, her future goals and her recent collaboration with Ho.
Who are the women who have helped you get where you are now?
I give the highest credit to both my mother, the founder of ArtWomen HK, and my grandmother for helping me get to where I am now. Since my formative years, they repeatedly taught me to create the impossible—even when the world attempted to tell me that there is no way I could accomplish my goals. They instilled in me a firm conviction that my personal circumstances should never stop me from achieving what I want to get out of life.
Other than my mother and grandmother, other strong women who have significantly contributed to my success include my mentors Chantal Wong and Tegan Smith, who both serve as advisory board members to Harmony HK. I have been tremendously blessed with so many positive female influences and am so grateful to all the women in my life that have played a constructive role in my development.
How does your work elevate other women?
Through my work at Harmony HK, I have developed a platform to support the career ambitions of a group of diverse female models, as despite some progress being made in the modelling industry regarding greater inclusivity, both race-based and body-type based exclusions remain prevalent in the Hong Kong fashion industry.
As a social enterprise, Harmony HK is driven by its mission to promote and encourage diversity and inclusion through fashion and art. We provide events and an inclusive environment for all types of women from a variety of backgrounds in Hong Kong to be able to express their beauty to the world.
What is the best advice you have ever received and who was it from?
I have received and continue to receive excellent counsel from my parents, mentors, and friends. I am extremely fortunate to be surrounded by a broad network of wise people that genuinely want to help me in my life journey.
I think the best advice I have received is from life itself because I often receive good advice but to truly understand the advice, I’ve had to personally experience certain life situations. I remember growing up and my parents advising me to be cautious in my personal and business relationships. They often told me, “everyone that is nice to you is not someone to trust” and “the world is not as sweet as it often appears.” I didn’t learn to appreciate this advice in its richness until I was hurt by someone that I would least expect to harm me.