Bree Runway says fashion boosted her confidence when she was a victim of bullying.
Bree Runway
The 28-year-old singer-and-rapper was pick on in school but soon gained her confidence back and learned self-expression through the way she dresses.
Asked what helped her regain her confidence, she told Vogue.co.uk: "Fashion. How I express myself. I always used to say, 'You can call me ugly, but you can’t say I can’t dress…' But now you can’t call me either. Fashion gave me confidence, my self-expression."
Bree - who has collaborated with Missy Elliott and Brooke Candy - explained that the nasty comments were based on the negative stereotypes of dark skin.
She said: "Now I’m older, I realise it was not to do with me – it was more the connotations around dark skin. 'Dark skin is ‘lesser than’, so why does the hottest boy like you?' You can sing and you can dance, but we don’t want to make you the Beyoncé.' But I was. Like, I really, really was. Sorry.
'We’re lighter and brighter, we’re supposed to be better than you.' But, put facts by facts, I’m the better singer, I’m the better dancer, I’m the better creative. Certain people don’t want you to see your light when you’re a bit shaky in it yourself. If I was standing by it fully, do you think anyone could tell me anything?"
However, the words stuck to the 'GUCCI' hitmaker as she tried to bleach her skin in order to become what the bullies deemed socially acceptable and she subsequently spent thousands of pounds trying to repair her "burnt and patchy" skin.
She recalled: "But I was also swayed by what people were saying, because I didn’t know myself. Fair, I was like nine or 10, but I started to believe those things about dark skin, that’s why I started to bleach my skin. Look for products so people would be quiet. I literally thought, 'Give it about two weeks… I’m gonna be lighter and everything will be fine.'
But the chemical reaction … no. I’ve just finished repairing my skin fully, which cost me grands. The first layer of my face was completely burnt and patchy. Grands. Maintenance isn’t cheap either."