The Victoria’s Secret fashion show is one of the biggest events in the fashion world. It brings many of the most famous models in the world altogether on one stage for a show-stopping spectacle. But, we can’t say we haven’t noticed that there’s a lack of diversity on the stage.
A post shared by Victoria’s Secret(@victoriassecret) on Apr 11, 2018 at 6:53am PDT
One person who’s speaking out about that is Leyna Bloom, a trans model who’s determined to be the first trans woman of colour on the Victoria’s Secret runway.
A post shared by Leyna Bloom(@leynabloom) on Mar 29, 2018 at 11:03am PDT
She took to Twitter to express her desire and had no idea that her tweet would bring her international stardom. She wrote, “Trying to be the 1st Trans model of colour walk a #VictoriaSecret Fashion show. #transisbeautiful #LeynaBloom”
Trying to be the 1st Trans model of color walk a #VictoriaSecret Fashion show. #transisbeautiful #LeynaBloom💕 pic.twitter.com/xkLW5W9YqO
— Leyna Bloom (@leynabloom) April 9, 2018
Thousands of people got behind her cause straight away, and the tweet garnered 130,000 likes and retweets.
Since then, numerous news outlets have picked up the story, so we have no doubt that Victoria’s Secret has been notified of her campaign. Leyna has already been practising her runway walk, and she’s got it down.
Practicing my Runway walk lol💕 pic.twitter.com/WoQLtifiJI
— Leyna Bloom (@leynabloom) April 13, 2018
We reached out to her to ask how it felt to have her tweet go viral. She said,
“Thank you to all my family across this world for showing love and support. I just want to follow my dreams and keep inspiring too keep hope alive.”
Leyna was the first out transgender model of colour in Vogue India, but her life hasn’t always been smooth sailing. In an interview with Mic., she revealed that she was once homeless, which is why she wants this so badly – to show others that achieving your dreams is possible.
“I represent so many groups of people and communities around the world. Me, I would just be the vessel. I was homeless at one point. I’d be going from sleeping on the train to walking Victoria’s Secret fashion show. This would be for any dreamer, who wants something so bad and people keep on telling them no, no, no. When I have those wings, we’re all flying together. This is so much bigger than me.”
