Haute Couture Hypocrisy: Unveiling the Fashion Industry's Erasure of Black Trans Women
The fashion industry's love affair with "representation" is a deceptive illusion. It's time to dismantle the “couturierarchy”.
By: Serena Sonoma
The fashion world's love affair with "representation" is a deceptive illusion, a carefully curated ‘trompe-l'œil’ that obscures the systemic erasure of Black trans women. Our exclusion isn't an oversight; it's a deliberate design, a legacy cut from the same cloth as an industry built on the appropriation and commodification of marginalized identities. This atelier of injustice, reeking of stolen dreams and cheap perfume, its walls adorned with the skins of those deemed disposable, demands to be razed to the ground. Are you, the designers sketching hollow promises, the editors curating a counterfeit reality, the consumers draped in plundered aesthetics, prepared to join the sartorial uprising and rewrite the rules of the game?
Let me tell you about Tracey "Africa" Norman, a goddess draped in shimmering defiance who was the first Black trans woman to appear on a box of Clairol in the 1970s. Norman, a trailblazing model and icon, captivated audiences with her beauty and grace. Yet, behind the glossy pages, her story was one of erasure and silencing. When her trans identity was revealed, the industry that once embraced her turned its back, denying her the recognition and respect she deserved. Her story echoes the countless narratives of Black trans women erased from history, their contributions to fashion and culture conveniently forgotten.
Today, we witness the rise of icons like Emira D'Spain, a beacon of Afro-Latina trans excellence whose ethereal presence on the runway is a reclamation of space. We celebrate Leyna Bloom, the first trans woman of color to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue, she embodies a fierceness that transcends the very pages she graces. These women, and countless others like them, are not just symbols; they are artists, visionaries, and warriors forging paths through a treacherous landscape. Yet, even as we celebrate their triumphs, we must not forget the systems that burden them, the ‘couturierarchy’ that demands they represent an entire community while denying them full ownership of their narratives.
This isn't diversity bingo. We are not your muses, your tokens, or your fetishized objects. Our femininity, pressure-cooked in the relentless heat of intersectional oppression – a relentless onslaught of racism, transphobia, and sexism aimed at our very existence – is a radical act of self-actualization. We are rewriting the language of beauty, disrupting the matrix that seeks to confine us.
But this isn't merely about aesthetics; it's about survival. According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 16 transgender and gender non-conforming people were killed in the U.S. in 2024 alone, many of them Black trans women like Michelle Henry, Kita Bee, and Starr Brown. The bitter taste of exclusion is a familiar flavor on our tongues, a constant reminder of the violence, poverty, and homelessness that disproportionately plague our community.
So, I ask you again, designers, editors, consumers: Will you continue to adorn yourselves in the shroud of our stolen magic, or will you tear down this couturierarchy? Will you amplify Black trans voices, hire Black trans creatives, support Black trans-owned businesses? Will you educate yourselves on the issues we face and advocate for our rights? Will you challenge the beauty standards that erase us, the media narratives that dehumanize us, the laws that deny us our dignity? Will you join us in birthing a new sartorial cosmology, a universe where Black trans women shine as the constellations they are?
The choice is yours. But remember, the runway is watching, and history will judge your actions. And beyond the runway, the world is watching. Every one of us has a role to play in dismantling the systems of oppression that deny Black trans women our humanity. It starts with interrogating our own biases, amplifying marginalized voices, and demanding justice in every sphere of our lives. The revolution is here, and it's wearing our colors.