Paloma Kai Shockley Elsesser (born April 12, 1992) is an American plus-size model and influencer. In 2023, she was the first plus-size model to win

Fashion Awards Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

for Model of the Year. She also walked for

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is an annual promotional event sponsored by and featuring Victoria's Secret, a brand of lingerie. From 1995 to 2018, Victoria's Secret used the show to market its goods in high-profile settings. Models under ...

in late 2024.

Early life

Elsesser was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to an African-American mother and a father of Chilean and Swiss descent. She was raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in 2010, to attend

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

to study

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. She has two sisters: her elder sister Kanyessa McMahon is a director and producer, her younger sister, Ama, is also an actor and model signed to

IMG img or IMG is an abbreviation for image. img or IMG may also refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics *IMG (file format), file that stores a complete and uncompressed copy of the contents of a storage device * IMG, a prefix for camera ima ...

, while her brother

Sage Elsesser Sage Gabriel Carlos Atreyu Elsesser (born January 31, 1997), also known as Navy Blue, is an American skateboarder, rapper, record producer, visual artist, and model. Elsesser has been sponsored by several skater fashion brands including Conv ...

aka Navy Blue is a rapper and professional skateboarder.

Career

Elsesser was discovered on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

by makeup artist Pat McGrath. She has modeled for

Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. (stylized as ''NIKE'') is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, ...

Fenty Beauty Fenty Beauty LLC (stylized as FEИTY BEAUTY) is a cosmetics brand by Rihanna, that was launched on September 8, 2017. Popular for its broad inclusivity across various skin tones, its Pro Filt'R foundation became in high-demand upon its first rel ...

Victoria’s Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner in 1982. Wexner rapidly expand ...

Proenza Schouler Proenza Schouler is a womenswear and accessories brand founded in New York City in 2002 by designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. In October 2024 Proenza Schouler appointed Shira Suveyke Snyder as chief executive officer, succeeding Kay ...

, and

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

. She has appeared in editorials for fashion magazines such as American ''Vogue'', ''

Vogue España ''Vogue'' (stylized in all caps), also known as American ''Vogue'', is a monthly Fashion journalism, fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers style news, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and Fashion show#Catwalk, runw ...

'', ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American progressive online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to '' Vogue'', targeted at teenage girls and young women. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and ...

'', ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'', '' W'', '' Wonderland Magazine'', and '' Glamour''. In 2018, Elsesser appeared on the cover of British ''Vogue'''s April issue with

Fran Summers Francesca Summers is a British fashion model. She has been on the covers of ''British Vogue'', ''Vogue Italia'', and '' American Vogue''. Early life Summers was born in Richmond, Yorkshire, England, to Keith and Sandra Summers, who own a floo ...

, Radhika Nair,

Adut Akech Adut Akech Bior ( ; born 25 December 1999) is a South Sudanese-Australian model. Akech made her fashion week runway debut as an exclusive in the Saint Laurent S/S 17 show and went on to close both their F/W 17 and S/S 18 shows as an exclusive. ...

, Faretta, Selena Forrest,

Halima Aden Halima Aden (; born September 19, 1997) is an American fashion model. She is noted for being the first woman to wear a hijab in the Miss Minnesota USA 2016 pageant, where she was a semi-finalist. Following her participation in the pageant, Halim ...

Vittoria Ceretti Vittoria Ceretti (born 7 June 1998) is an Italian fashion model. Ceretti was discovered in 2012 through the Elite Model Look Model contest. As of 2024, Ceretti has participated in 400 fashion shows and has appeared on the cover of ''Vogue'' and it ...

, and

Yoon Young Bae Yoon Young Bae is a South Korean fashion model. She appeared on the "New Frontiers" cover of ''British Vogue'', alongside Vittoria Ceretti, Halima Aden, Faretta (model), Faretta, Adut Akech, Paloma Elsesser, Radhika Nair (model), Radhika Nair, Fr ...

. In 2019, Elsesser made her screen acting debut in the

Safdie brothers Josh Safdie, Joshua Henry Safdie (born April 3, 1984) and Benny Safdie, Benjamin Safdie (born February 24, 1986) are independent American filmmakers and actors based in New York City, who frequently collaborate on their films. They are best know ...

' ''

Uncut Gems ''Uncut Gems'' is a 2019 American crime thriller film directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bronstein. It stars Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, and Eric Bogosian ...

''. Elsesser appeared on the cover of American ''Vogue''s January 2021 issue, and on the cover of ''

Vogue Adria ''Vogue Adria'' is the edition of the American fashion and lifestyle monthly magazine ''Vogue'' for the countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. The printed edition is published in Croatian and Serbian, wh ...

''s April 2025 issue.

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elsesser, Paloma Living people Plus-size models Models from the London Borough of Camden Female models from Los Angeles Models from New York City 1992 births African-American female models American people of Chilean descent American people of Swiss descent English people of Chilean descent English people of Swiss descent English people of African-American descent 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women