Leyna Bloom

Leyna Bloom is an American actress, model, dancer, and activist. In October 2017, Bloom became the first openly transgender woman of color to appear in Vogue India.[2] In May 2019, her feature film debut in Port Authority at the Cannes Film Festival was the first time a trans woman of color was in a leading role of a movie feature at a major film festival.[3]

Leyna Bloom
Born1993/1994 (age 26–27)[1]
Chicago, IL
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipAmerican
OccupationFashion model Dancer Actor Activist
Modeling information
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Hair colorBrown
Eye colorBrown

Early life

Bloom's father supported her decision to transition.[4][5]

Ball culture

Well respected in ball culture, Bloom is the New York City mother of the house of Miyake-Mugler in the mainstream scene and is known in the ballroom community as the “Polynesian Princess,” having made an international name for herself walking the category of face.[3]

Modeling

In 2014, Bloom appeared in a C☆NDY Magazine cover feature on prominent trans women.[6][7] Bloom was not open about being transgender before that photo shoot. She decided to come out as she felt liberated sharing a major magazine cover with 13 other trans women.[5]

As one of few openly transgender models working in the industry, in September 2017, Bloom made news for walking the runway for the Chromat label during New York Fashion Week.[8][9] In October 2017, Bloom became the first openly transgender woman of color to appear in Vogue India.[2]

On April 9, 2018, she launched a viral campaign on Twitter to be cast as the first trans woman to walk in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.[10] She gained international attention from her viral campaign advocating for the inclusion of all body types on the sexy runway. Bloom's viral campaign encouraged the news media and young women of her generation to question and challenge Victoria's Secret on their lack of inclusiveness. Because of Leyna Bloom's comments and the reaction of other models, Victoria Secret's casting direction has been criticised by professionals and fashion journalists.[11]

Later that year, Leyna Bloom was cast as one of the faces of the H&M x Moschino by Jeremy Scott Fall/Winter 2018 international campaign shot by the legendary fashion photographer Steven Meisel. H&M, the world's biggest fashion retailer, featured Bloom in their campaign images and videos, which were displayed at thousands of stores around the world as well as launched on international billboards and TV spots and advertised in global fashion magazines and newspapers.She starred in the campaign with Gigi Hadid, Stella Maxwell, Soo Joo Park, Imaan Hammam, and Yasmin Wijnaldum.[12] Glamour (magazine) named Leyna Bloom as one of "6 Women Who Are Shaping the Future of Fashion” in the October 2018 issue.[13]

In March 2019, Leyna Bloom was the only transgender woman of color to walk Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2019 at the Tommy Hilfiger x Zendaya fashion show in an all black cast.[14]

Film career

In October 2018, Deadline Hollywood announced that newcomer Leyna Bloom will star opposite Fionn Whitehead in Danielle Lessovitz's first feature film Port Authority, which is backed by executive producer Martin Scorsese.[15] Port Authority tells a love story that begins at the New York City transportation center and dives into the kiki ballroom scene. On April 18, 2019, the 2019 Cannes Film Festival announced that Port Authority will compete in the Un Certain Regard competition. It was the first film in the festival's 72-year history to feature a trans woman of color in a leading role.[1][3]

See also

References
  1. Kaufman, Amy (May 19, 2019). "How Leyna Bloom became the first transgender actress of color to star in a film at Cannes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
  2. Lubitz, Rachel (October 13, 2017). "Model Leyna Bloom becomes the first out transgender model of color to be featured in 'Vogue' India". Mic.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  3. "Meet Leyna Bloom, First Trans Woman of Color to Lead a Cannes Premiere". www.out.com. 2019-04-18. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  4. "This trans woman has a message: 'When you accept us, you accept yourself'". BuzzFeed. Facebook. March 11, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  5. "Show Up and Show Out: Leyna Bloom". Chromat. August 8, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  6. Nichols, James (December 16, 2014). "Some Of The World's Most Famous Transgender Women Cover CANDY Magazine". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  7. Friedman, Megan (December 17, 2014). "The Most Famous Transgender Women Have Their Own Magazine Cover: Yes!". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  8. "Transgender and plus-size models make this fashion's most diverse runway ever". Yahoo!. September 9, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  9. Tai, Cordelia (February 23, 2017). "Diversity Report: Landmark Gains at New York Fashion Week Fall 2017, but Is It Enough". The Fashion Spot. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  10. "Leyna Bloom Is Campaigning to Be the First Trans Woman of Color on the Victoria's Secret Runway". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  11. "Kendall Jenner Posts Support for Transgender Women After Victoria's Secret Exec's Controversial Comments". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  12. "H&M x Moschino Fall 2018 (H&M)". MODELS.com. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  13. "These 6 Women Are Making Diversity in Fashion a Reality". Glamour. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  14. "Fall 2019 Runway Diversity Report: Racial and Age Diversity Step Forward, Size and Gender Inclusivity Step Back". theFashionSpot. 2019-03-25. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  15. Wiseman, Andreas (2018-10-19). "Martin Scorsese's Sikelia & RT Features Wrap 'Port Authority' With 'Dunkirk' Star Fionn Whitehead, MUBI's First Production". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
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