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Entertainment August 30, 2017
This girl knows how to work it!
Isis King is best known as the first transgender contestant to appear on “America’s Next Top Model.”
King’s rise to fame benefits many more people than just herself. Her transition and candid interviews have exposed the American public to transgender issues and the broken misconceptions of the trans community.
Here are five things you should know about this modeling pioneer and role model.
Isis King was not always the iconic model she is today. She was born as a boy named Darris Wells, but Isis says that she was simply “born in the wrong body.” However, it was not until the summer of 2007, after her high school graduation, that King would begin hormone replacement therapy and her transition into a woman.
Her interest in couture began early in life. In 2003, King won a full ride scholarship to the Art School of Philadelphia for fashion design. The following year, she was struggling to make ends meet in New York City. King wanted to return home to Maryland, but her family did not support her transitioning into a female. She instead moved to The Ali Forney Center, which houses and supports over 1,400 LGBT youth per year.
While taking part in the Transitional Living program at Ali Forney, Isis was connected with The Reciprocity Foundation, which helps employ high-risk or homeless youth. “America’s Next Top Model” was organizing a shoot for Cycle 10, which addressed the problem of homelessness.
For the shoot, homeless women in the transitional program were used as background models. King modeled on the runway for seven years prior, and her powerful strut blew away art director Jay Manuel. Due to her impressive performance, she was ultimately scouted by Tyra and became a contestant on Cycle 11 as the first openly trans woman on “ANTM.”
Isis King’s participation in “America’s Next Top Model” educated the public about transgender issues in more ways than one.
Some parts of her transformation process were shown during the season 11 screening of “ANTM.” The hormone injections and nausea that followed gave the audience an up close and personal take on the physical struggles that transitioning entails. The show also shed a light on ignorance towards the transgender community. During her 10-episode run on the show, several contestants called King a “he/she” and a “drag queen.”
However, despite these challenges, King’s stint on “ANTM” provided many opportunities. During an interview on “The Tyra Banks Show” following her elimination, Banks arranged for Dr. Marci Bowers to conduct her genital reassignment surgery.
According to her Facebook page, the operation was successfully performed on February 27, 2009. She also returned to “America’s Next Top Model” for the 17th Cycle All-Star Edition and her career shot off from there.
Being one of the most well-known transgender women in the fashion industry, Isis King inherently speaks for an underrepresented community. This may sound like a lot of pressure, but she seems to be up for the challenge.
In an interview with another esteemed trans icon, Janet Mock, Isis discussed the lack of representation of transgender women in the media and the roles they play to foster the public’s understanding of the transgender community.
During public appearances, she regularly sheds light on the harsh realities impacting her community. In an interview with Teen Vogue, King reminded readers that trans women of color have the highest rates of homelessness, suicide and murder in the country.
Isis explained that “it’s harder for black trans women, number one, to get jobs. The likelihood of your family disowning you because of who you are when you’re black and trans is higher.” She continued that these circumstances lead trans women of color into sex work, incarceration and ultimately a cycle of poverty.
It is programs like those at the Ali Forney Center that are providing LGBT communities a safe haven and a place to grow every day. In the words of Isis herself, “The more young trans people we get off the streets and give proper education and housing to, the more leaders and creative spirits we’re going to have.”
Isis King isn’t just a famous trans model, she also plays one on TV. In 2015, she starred as Sonja in a fashion show on the soap opera “The Bold & the Beautiful.” King also played a young transgender girl named Gia on an episode of the hit television series “Shameless.”
In 2013, King starred in her first motion picture, “Hello Forever”. In the film, she plays a transgender Filipina woman named Rommy, who is struggling to climb out of poverty in a corrupt world of sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
In 2012, Isis King became American Apparel’s first openly transgender model. The famed fashion brand teamed up with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) to create a “Legalize Gay!” and “Gay O.K.” T-shirt line with Isis as the face of the campaign.
She recently walked alongside “RuPaul’s Drag Race” contestants at the Los Angeles Marco Marco Fashion Show. However, beyond her killer strut, she is also involved on the creative end. King designs the majority of her gowns for award shows and she is in the process of creating her own fashion line.
In an interview with Elite Daily, King revealed the norms of traditionally male and female clothes are moving towards more genderless looks. She continued to say, “Women have always worn men’s clothes. Now, men are circling back around. It impacts the culture because rules and regulations of what is ‘appropriate’ to wear are slowly fading, and that eliminates shock value. Wear what you want!” It seems that with these shifting tides there could be even more opportunities for LGBT around the corner.
To wrap it up, Isis King is making waves in the fashion industry that are long overdue. We can’t wait to see what this fierce fashionista has in store for us next!
