Leyna Bloom – Wikipedia

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American actress, model, dancer, and activist

Leyna Bloom is an American actress, model, dancer, and activist. She has attracted press as a trailblazer for transgender women in the entertainment and fashion industries.[2][3]

In 2019, Bloom made her feature film acting debut in Port Authority, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.[4] She has modeled for several brands and fashion designers, including Jeremy Scott, and has appeared in magazines such as Vogue India and Sports Illustrated.[5][6]

Early life[edit]

Bloom was born in Chicago, Illinois to a Filipina mother and an African-American father.[7] Bloom’s father later supported her decision to transition.[8]

Acting[edit]

In October 2018, Deadline Hollywood announced that Bloom would star opposite Fionn Whitehead in Danielle Lessovitz’s first feature film, Port Authority, which is backed by executive producer Martin Scorsese.[9]

In 2019, Bloom made her feature film acting debut in Port Authority, directed by Danielle Lessovitz, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section,[10] marking the first film in the festival’s 72-year history to feature a trans woman of color in a leading role.[4][11]

In 2021, Bloom appeared in the third and final season of the FX drama series Pose.[12]

Ballroom[edit]

Bloom is a fixture in the queer ballroom scene and is the New York City mother of the house of Miyake-Mugler and made an international name for herself competing at balls in the category of face.[3]

Modeling[edit]

In 2014, Bloom appeared in a C☆NDY Magazine cover feature on prominent trans women.[13][14] 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.[7]

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.[15][16] In October 2017, Bloom became the first openly transgender woman of color to appear in Vogue India.[5]

On April 9, 2018, she launched a viral campaign on Twitter to be cast as the first openly trans woman to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.[17] Because of Bloom’s comments and the reactions from other models, Victoria’s Secret casting direction has been criticized by professionals and fashion journalists.[18]

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. She starred in the campaign with Gigi Hadid, Stella Maxwell, Soo Joo Park, Imaan Hammam, and Yasmin Wijnaldum.[19]

Glamour named Leyna Bloom as one of “6 Women Who Are Shaping the Future of Fashion” in the October 2018 issue.[20]

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.[21]

In March 2021, it was announced that Bloom would appear as a model in the July swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated, making her the first openly transgender Black and Asian-American Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue model.[6][22][23]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  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. ^ “Who Is Leyna Bloom? Meet the Groundbreaking ‘Sports Illustrated’ Model”. Us Weekly. 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  3. ^ a b “Meet Leyna Bloom, First Trans Woman of Color to Lead a Cannes Premiere”. www.out.com. 2019-04-18. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  4. ^ a b “Inside Leyna Bloom’s History-Making Cannes Experience”. Vogue. 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  5. ^ a b 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.
  6. ^ a b “Leyna Bloom makes history as 1st Black, Asian transgender Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model”. Good Morning America. March 16, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  7. ^ a b “Show Up and Show Out: Leyna Bloom”. Chromat. August 8, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  8. ^ “This trans woman has a message: ‘When you accept us, you accept yourself’“. BuzzFeed. Facebook. March 11, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ “Cannes festival 2019: full list of films”. The Guardian. Retrieved April 18, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Setoodeh, Ramin (2019-05-16). “Cannes: Leyna Bloom Makes History as First Transgender Lead Actress of Color at Festival”. Variety. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  12. ^ June 03, Marcus Jones; EDT, 2021 at 03:23 PM. “‘Port Authority’ star Leyna Bloom on making Cannes history and her full-circle ‘Pose’ moment”. EW.com. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  13. ^ Nichols, James (December 16, 2014). “Some Of The World’s Most Famous Transgender Women Cover CANDY Magazine”. The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  14. ^ Friedman, Megan (December 17, 2014). “The Most Famous Transgender Women Have Their Own Magazine Cover: Yes!”. Cosmopolitan. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  15. ^ “Transgender and plus-size models make this fashion’s most diverse runway ever”. Yahoo!. September 9, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ “Leyna Bloom Is Campaigning to Be the First Trans Woman of Color on the Victoria’s Secret Runway”. Teen Vogue. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  18. ^ “Kendall Jenner Posts Support for Transgender Women After Victoria’s Secret Exec’s Controversial Comments”. Teen Vogue. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  19. ^ “H&M x Moschino Fall 2018 (H&M)”. MODELS.com. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  20. ^ “These 6 Women Are Making Diversity in Fashion a Reality”. Glamour. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  21. ^ “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.
  22. ^ “Leyna Bloom is Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue’s first trans cover star”. The Guardian. 2021-07-19. Retrieved 2021-07-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ^ “Leyna Bloom Becomes 1st Transgender Model to Cover Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue: ‘A Living Testament’“. PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2021-07-20.

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