Willow Allen

Last updated

Willow Allen
Born (1999-11-29) November 29, 1999 (age 24)
Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada
Occupation(s)model, content creator
Spouse
Cale Kindrachuk
​
(m. 2022)​
Children1

Willow Allen is a Canadian fashion model and TikToker, from Inuvik, Northwest Territories.

Contents

Early life and education

Allen was born and raised in Inuvik. She attended Briercrest Christian Academy for the last two years of high school, and went on to attend Briercrest College for one semester. [1] While at Briercrest, Allen became a Christian. [1]

She was studying social work at Grant MacEwan University when she was discovered. [2] As of 2022, she was hoping to complete her degree and go on to work with native communities after she graduates. [3]

Career

Allen was scouted to become a model on social media in 2019 and subsequently signed with Mode Models. [4] [5] She has worked with the likes of Canada Goose, Elle Canada, and Louboutin. [6] Being on the cover of Elle Canada was "a major career milestone" that got her started on her modeling career. [7] [3] She has worked in Singapore and New York. [4] While in Singapore, she did modelling work for such brands as New Balance, Highsnobiety, Sony, Levi's and Prada. [2]

Allen has also appeared in Canadian singer Tyler Shaw's music video for "When You're Home", which was filmed in Toronto. [4]

In November 2023, Allen appeared in Vogue . [8]

Online presence

Allen has a following on TikTok of over 690,000; [8] she uses the platform to educate viewers about life in the Canadian Arctic and about her Inuit heritage. [3] In 2022, she was included in a TikTok accelerator program for indigenous creators. [9]

Personal life

Allen and her husband, Cale Kindrachuk, eloped prior to October 2022, [3] followed by a traditional ceremony in April 2023. [10] The couple live in Saskatchewan. [8]

In July 2023, Allen announced on TikTok that the couple were expecting their first child. [8] Allen struggled with hyperemesis gravidarum during her pregnancy. [8] Her son was born on January 20, 2024. [11]

Awards

In 2022, Allen won the Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards' Fresh Face of the Year Award. [5] [12]

Allen was one of eleven recipients of the 2023 Indspire Awards. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Territories</span> Territory of Canada

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately 1,127,711.92 km2 (435,412.01 sq mi) and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated population as of the second quarter of 2024 is 44,920. Yellowknife is the capital, most populous community, and only city in the territory; its population was 20,340 as of the 2021 census. It became the territorial capital in 1967, following recommendations by the Carrothers Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuvik</span> Arctic town in the Northwest Territories, Canada

Inuvik is the only town in the Inuvik Region, and the third largest community in Canada's Northwest Territories. Located in what is sometimes called the Beaufort Delta Region, it serves as its administrative and service centre and is home to federal, territorial, and Indigenous government offices, along with the regional hospital and airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aklavik</span> Hamlet in Northwest Territories, Canada

Aklavik is a hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Until 1961, with a population over 1,500, the community served as the regional administrative centre for the territorial government.

Inuvialuktun comprises several Inuit language varieties spoken in the northern Northwest Territories by Canadian Inuit who call themselves Inuvialuit. Some dialects and sub-dialects are also spoken in Nunavut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuvialuit</span> Inuit subgroup

The Inuvialuit or Western Canadian Inuit are Inuit who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. They, like all other Inuit, are descendants of the Thule who migrated eastward from Alaska. Their homeland – the Inuvialuit Settlement Region – covers the Arctic Ocean coastline area from the Alaskan border, east through the Beaufort Sea and beyond the Amundsen Gulf which includes some of the western Canadian Arctic Islands, as well as the inland community of Aklavik and part of Yukon. The land was demarked in 1984 by the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuktoyaktuk</span> Hamlet in the Northwest Territories, Canada

Tuktoyaktuk, or TuktuyaaqtuuqIPA:[təktujaːqtuːq], is an Inuvialuit hamlet located near the Mackenzie River delta in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, at the northern terminus of the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway. One of six Inuvialuit communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, it is commonly referred to by its first syllable, Tuk. It lies north of the Arctic Circle on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and is the only place on the Arctic Ocean connected to the rest of Canada by road. Known as Port Brabant after British colonization, in 1950 it became the first Indigenous settlement in Canada to reclaim its traditional name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulatuk</span> Hamlet in Northwest Territories, Canada

Paulatuk is a hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is located adjacent to Darnley Bay, in the Amundsen Gulf, and 105 km (65 mi) east of the Smoking Hills. The town was named for the coal that was found in the area in the 1920s, and the Siglitun spelling is Paulatuuq, "place of coal".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nellie Cournoyea</span> Canadian politician

Nellie Cournoyea is a Canadian politician, who served as the sixth premier of the Northwest Territories from 1991 to 1995. She was the first female premier of a Canadian territory, first Indigenous female premier (Inuvialuk) of a Canadian province / territory and the second female premier in Canadian history after Rita Johnston of British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuit</span> Indigenous peoples of northern North America

Inuit are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Yukon (traditionally), Alaska, and Chukotsky District of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. Inuit languages are part of the Eskimo–Aleut languages, also known as Inuit-Yupik-Unangan, and also as Eskaleut. Inuit Sign Language is a critically endangered language isolate used in Nunavut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuvialuit Settlement Region</span> Region in Canada

The Inuvialuit Settlement Region, abbreviated as ISR, located in Canada's western Arctic, was designated in 1984 in the Inuvialuit Final Agreement by the Government of Canada for the Inuvialuit people. It spans 90,650 km2 (35,000 sq mi) of land, mostly above the tree line, and includes several subregions: the Beaufort Sea, the Mackenzie River delta, the northern portion of Yukon, and the northwest portion of the Northwest Territories. The ISR includes both Crown Lands and Inuvialuit Private Lands. Most of the ISR is represented by Nunakput, the territorial electoral district, meaning "our land" in Inuvialuktun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuit Nunangat</span> Inuit regions of Canada

Inuit Nunangat refers to the land, water, and ice of the homeland of Inuit in Canada. This Arctic homeland consists of four northern Canadian regions called the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, the territory Nunavut (ᓄᓇᕗᑦ), Nunavik (ᓄᓇᕕᒃ) in northern Quebec, and Nunatsiavut of Newfoundland and Labrador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bertha Allen</span> Womens rights advocate

Bertha Allen was a Vuntut Gwitchin women's rights and aboriginal rights advocate.

Rosemarie Esther Kuptana, LL.D. is a Canadian Inuvialuit politician, Inuit rights activist, broadcaster and journalist. Besides serving with several Inuit organisations she was president of the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation. She lives in the Ottawa area and has three children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary K. Okheena</span> Canadian Inuvialuit graphic artist

Mary Kapbak Okheena is an Inuvialuit graphic artist known for her stencil prints including "Musk-ox Waiting for the Tide to Cross Water" (1986) and "Shaman Dances to Northern Lights" (1991), drawings and embroidery. She is part of the third generation of organized graphic artists in the Canadian Arctic. Okheena has five children with her husband Eddie and she currently lives in Inuvik where she practices embroidery and makes wall hangings.

Abraham Anghik Ruben is an Inuvialuit Canadian sculptor of Yup'ik descent. Ruben was born south of the hamlet of Paulatuk in the Inuvik Region east of the Mackenzie River Delta in the Northwest Territories, Canada in 1951.

Lesa Semmler is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories in the 2019 election. She represents the electoral district of Inuvik Twin Lakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Kakuktinniq</span> Canadian Inuk fashion designer

Victoria Kakuktinniq is a Canadian Inuk fashion designer from Nunavut. Under her label Victoria's Arctic Fashion, Kakuktinniq hand-stitches clothing such as parkas, kamiit, and other accessories. Her work has been described as a major influence in contemporary Inuit fashion. Kakuktinniq has described her work as a means of preserving Inuit traditional skills of sewing and clothing production, which has historically been a significant aspect of Inuit culture. In particular, she advocates for handmade fur garments as sustainable fashion.

Shina Novalinga is an Inuk social media personality, singer, and activist. She gained fame for posting videos throat singing with her mother on TikTok and Instagram, who has been a professional throat singer for many years. Her love of throat singing came from her mother and wanted to express her culture to those unfamiliar with it, which is how she started to create videos on social media. As of April, 2024 she has over 4 million TikTok followers and 2 million Instagram followers.

Marika Sila is a Canadian Inuvialuk actress, content creator, and social activist. Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, her family moved to Canmore, Alberta when she was five years old. Olympic cross-country skier Jesse Cockney is her older brother.

References

  1. 1 2 Lenko, Timothy. "Willow Allen: From Christian School, to Modelling, to Social Work". www.briercrest.ca. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  2. 1 2 Scott, Mackenzie (22 April 2019). "Whirlwind year for Inuvialuit model after being discovered on Instagram". CBC North. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Murphy, Aisling (12 October 2022). "'We don't wear heels in the Arctic': How Inuit model Willow Allen uses TikTok woof woof to showcase life in the north". Toronto Star. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 McLeod, Wanda (24 January 2021). "From New York's fashion scene to social work in the North: Inuvialuit model looks homeward". CBC North. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  5. 1 2 Lalancette, Katherine (13 April 2023). "Inuit Model Willow Allen Is Bringing Visibility to Arctic Communities". The Kit. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  6. ↑ "How These Indigenous Women Are Reclaiming Their Culture". Elle Canada. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  7. ↑ "Meet the 4 Indigenous Women Covering ELLE Canada's February-March Issue". Elle Canada. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Allaire, Christian (17 November 2023). "Model Willow Allen Is Incorporating Inuit Culture Into Her Motherhood Journey". Vogue. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  9. ↑ Miskiman, Megan (28 November 2022). "NWT TikTok creators given extra help as their followings grow". cabinradio.ca. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  10. ↑ "Willow & Cale". The Knot. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  11. ↑ Di Filippo, Elizabeth (23 January 2024). "Inuit model Willow Allen celebrates the birth of her first child: 'The most beautiful gift from God'". ca.style.yahoo.com. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  12. ↑ Tessier-Burns, Francis (20 October 2022). "Inuvialuk model wins national award". CKLB Radio. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  13. ↑ Williams·, Ollie (11 May 2023). "Inuvik duo win 2023 Indspire awards". cabinradio.ca. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.