Leyna Bloom is an American actress, model, dancer, and activist. She has attracted press as a trailblazer for transgender performers in the entertainment and fashion industries.[2][3]
In 2021, Bloom appeared in the third and final season of the FX drama series Pose.[12]
Ballroom
Bloom is a fixture in the queer ballroom scene as a member of the House of Miyake-Mugler and made an international name for herself competing at balls in the category of face.[3]
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]
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]
