Transgender Models: Representation In Fashion
PORTRAITS BY SARAH REIMANN - STORY BY PHILIPPA NESBITT
hair by: MICHAEL BUI @spraythanh8
makeup: COTILDE PUVIS DE CHAVANNES @paintyourlips
models: Ernest Hoang and Harper Andria
The year 2015 was notoriously influential in the entrance of the transgender identity into mainstream culture. Alongside major celebrity moments for the trans community, such as Caitlyn Jenner publicly announcing her transition and Laverne Cox winning a daytime Emmy award for her role as a transgender inmate on Orange is the New Black, it was the year Selfridges launched their agender pop-up store, Andreja Pejić became the first transwoman to land a major beauty campaign, and the year &Other Stories utilized an all-transgender cast and crew for a major ad campaign.
That year saw a marked rise in the visibility of transgender and non-binary bodies in the fashion industry, bringing previously marginalized identities to be celebrated in a new way. However, in the same year, hate crimes against transgender people – especially trans women of color – tripled in the United States, while the suicide rate of trans people reached 41%. Today, the political climate surrounding the trans identity is still contentious, with the Trump presidency being instrumental in a dialing back of rights for transgender Americans.
Against all odds, fashion has developed a space of resistance allowing transgender and non-binary models prevail: in 2018, American non-binary model Oslo Grace walked the runway for Moschino, Gucci and Balenciaga in shows that broke the traditional binary system. Transgender models like April Ashley, Tracey Norman, Caroline “Tula” Cosey and Lauren Foster all experienced short-lived success between 1960 and 1990 while remaining quiet about their trans identities until they were outed by their peers and quietly let go from their agencies. However, the early 2010s saw a sudden shift in the emergence of transgender bodies in fashion, with celebrated models like Andreja Pejic, Lea T and Hari Nef taking over top runways from Hood By Air to Givenchy.
Ever since these three trans models took over the runways, more agencies began signing trans and non-binary and more brands began placing them at the center of their runways Transgender models like April Ashley, Tracey Norman, Caroline “Tula” Cosey and Lauren Foster all experienced short-lived success between 1960 and 1990 while remaining quiet about their trans identities until they were outed by their peers and quietly let go from their agencies. However, the early 2010s saw a sudden shift in the emergence of transgender bodies in fashion, with celebrated models like Andreja Pejic, Lea T and Hari Nef taking over top runways from Hood By Air to Givenchy.
“Nevertheless, for transgender and non-binary people working in the fashion industry, it’s clear that there is an awareness of the tokenism that may be present in casting trans models at a moment of increased political tension around trans bodies.”
Ever since these three trans models took over the runways, more agencies began signing trans and non-binary and more brands began placing them at the center of their runways and campaigns. These are just a few of the many transgender models that have taken fashion and popular culture by storm since 2015, and there seems to be no sign of trans and non-binary representation slowing down.
Many high profile models like Hari Nef and Teddy Quinlivan understand that, despite the possibility of tokenism, their openness and to become hyper-visible. Model Ceval Omar explained that drawing so much attention to her transgender identity in her career often felt dehumanizing, but also expressed an understanding of the importance of it at this particular moment. “It’s really sad in the sense that we are living human beings,” Omar explained, “but at the same time, we sort of have to [teach people] so that the next generation of transgender women and men can have an easier life.”
This feeling of responsibility to become hyper-visible. Model Ceval Omar explained that drawing so much attention to her transgender identity in her career often felt dehumanizing, but also expressed an understanding of the importance of it at this particular moment. “It’s really sad in the sense that we are living human beings,” Omar explained, “but at the same time, we sort of have to [teach people] so that the next generation of transgender women and men can have an easier life.”
This feeling of responsibility seemed to eclipse the sense of tokenism for Omar, who was willing to put in the work in her career to help normalize her identity for others who may not otherwise understand it. “I think its something great, but at the same time I’m not naive, and I’m aware that using trans models– are being kind of used as a prop I guess, to show how diverse you are. But at the same time its doing a really good thing, because the more you kind of see us, the more normalized it is.”
“I don’t want it to be the only reason people hire me. I want to be a great technical and charismatic high fashion model first and foremost, infiltrating the cis-binary world”
At the forefront of this duality was a desire for the models to be understood as transgender or non-binary, but not be defined as such. While Rostok Smirnov did not want to be identified with any sort of relationship to gender, Oslo Grace, Ceval Omar and Meme Meng all wanted to be looked at and treated as any other model – transgender or cisgender. “I think that’s what I want to see more,” explained Meng, “neither rejecting or having us be a part of it because of the way we look, but to have us just because we’re us.” For Oslo Grace, being present in the modeling industry at the same capacity as cisgender models was of great importance in their career. While they wanted their transgender non-binary identity to be recognized and their pronouns to be respected, they also wanted to be hired for their excellence in their profession. When asked about promoting their non-binary identity, Grace expressed the importance of being respected as a non-binary person, especially to help ensure that non-binary people in the future don’t get misgendered. “I don’t want it to be the only reason people hire me. I want to be a great technical and charismatic high fashion model first and foremost, infiltrating the cis-binary world,” said Grace, “If I change people’s perceptions along the way? Great! But it’s only one part of me.”
Many models I interviewed were worried that others would believe they only received castings because they were transgender and their previous work would be positioned as deceitful toward major brands. Hyper-visibility and tokenism can have an effect on the affirmation of one’s gender identity: rather than supporting the trans identity, it can create a greater divide between the normalcy of life as a cisgender model and conflate success with an empty attempt at diversity.
While there is a general skepticism toward the industry, there seems to be a collective sense of positivity and optimism for the future of gender identities beyond the binary in fashion. Moments of hyper-visibility for transgender and non-binary models, such as the Gucci Autumn/Winter 2018 runway show that featured Oslo Grace, were important in helping increase a greater understanding of the non-binary body. By including transgender, non-binary and androgynous models on a hyper-visible runway show, identities that challenge the gender binary were brought into the fantasy and desirability the fashion industry has always represented. For Meme, representation in a major show like this translated to a greater understanding for a wide variety of consumers of fashion media. “Now a little kid in middle school on Vogue Runway, can look and be like, wait…” explained Meng, “That little tiny image to that kid in middle school right now will become something bigger, because now they live in a world where [a major brand] did this. I think that’s really beautiful.”
Most of the models I spoke to expressed a similar sentiment, stating that the lack of visibility of non-binary gender identities in fashion media in their youth prevented them from understanding and developing their gender identity at a younger age. Current access to non-binary identities is helping to shift this for future transgender and non-binary children. “Seeing more of us normalizes us. People are mostly afraid of what they don’t know,” said Omar.
Equality is on the rise, but there is still work to be done, not only for acceptance of transgender and non-binary models but for all intersections of diversity. Perhaps with the hard work done by trans models in the past to bring diversity to the forefront of the fashion imaginary, the same can happen for intersections of race, age, size and ability in the near future.
“Hiring transgender models without the intention of making a statement is making the most meaningful one”
“I would love if people stopped acting like my gender is a part of my job”
