Leyna Bloom is an American actress, model, dancer, and activist. She has attracted press as a trailblazer for

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

performers in the entertainment and fashion industries. In 2019, Bloom made her feature film acting debut in ''

Port Authority A port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate ports and other transportation infrastructure. ...

'', which premiered at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. She has modeled for several brands and fashion designers, including

Jeremy Scott Jeremy Scott (born August 8, 1975) is an American fashion designer. He is the sole owner of his namesake label, and from October 2013 to March 2023 was the creative director of the fashion house Moschino. Since launching his brand in Paris in 19 ...

, and has appeared in magazines such as ''

Vogue India ''Vogue India'' is the Indian edition of the monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine '' Vogue''. It is the 17th international edition of ''Vogue'' and the first edition in South Asia. ''Vogue India'' is published by Condé Nast India Pvt. Ltd., ...

'' and ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

.''

Early life

Bloom was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to a

Filipina Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino, English, or other Philippine languages. Despite formerly being subject to ...

mother and an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

father. Bloom's father later supported her decision to transition.

Career

Acting

In October 2018, ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. It is updated several times a day, with en ...

'' announced that Bloom would star opposite Fionn Whitehead in

Danielle Lessovitz Danielle Lessovitz is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. She began her career in 2008, releasing several short films before her feature directorial debut ''Port Authority'', which premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival's ...

's first feature film, ''

'', which is backed by executive producer

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

. In 2019, Bloom made her feature film acting debut in ''

'', directed by

, which premiered at the

in the

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

section, marking the first film in the festival's 72-year history to feature a trans woman of color in a leading role. Casting Director Damian Bao found Bloom at a voguing ball in Philadelphia. When she met Bao and heard what the indie film was about, she felt like the part was meant for her. “I’m not just trying to act as a trans woman in ballroom — I am a trans woman in ballroom playing a character,” she said. “It’s very real and it’s very raw and it means a lot to me, because I am in this moment representing the most marginalized community in the world.” In 2021, Bloom appeared in the third and final season of the FX drama series ''

Pose Human positions refer to the different physical configurations that the human body can take. There are several synonyms that refer to human positioning, often used interchangeably, but having specific nuances of meaning. *''Position'' is a gen ...

''.

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.

Modeling

In 2014, Bloom appeared in a C☆NDY Magazine cover feature on prominent

trans women A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

. Bloom was not open about being

before that photo shoot; she decided to

come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

as she felt liberated sharing a major magazine cover with 13 other trans women. 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 New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

. In October 2017, Bloom became the first openly transgender woman of color to appear in ''

''. 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. Because of Bloom's comments and the reactions from other models, Victoria's Secret casting direction has been criticized by professionals and fashion journalists. Later that year, Leyna Bloom was cast as one of the faces of the H&M x

Moschino Moschino () is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house founded in 1983 by Franco Moschino in Milan known for over-the-top, Camp (style), campy designs. The company specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, and fashion accessories. Moschino's ...

Fall/Winter 2018 international campaign shot by the legendary fashion photographer

Steven Meisel Steven Meisel (born June 5, 1954) is an American fashion photographer, who obtained popularity and critical acclaim with his work in '' Vogue'' and '' Vogue Italia'' as well as his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book, '' Sex''. He is ...

. She starred in the campaign with

Gigi Hadid Jelena Noura "Gigi" Hadid ( ; born April 23, 1995) is an American fashion model and television personality. In 2016, she was named International Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council. Throughout her career, Hadid has made at least ...

Stella Maxwell Stella Maynes Maxwell (born 15 May 1990) is a British- Irish model. She is a former Victoria's Secret Angel, and is also the face of the cosmetics brand Max Factor. Early life Stella Maynes Maxwell was born in Brussels on 15 May 1990, the daug ...

, Soo Joo Park,

Imaan Hammam Imaan Hammam (born 5 October 1996) is a Dutch fashion model. As of 2024, she has appeared on the cover of ''Vogue'' 22 times, four times on the American edition. She currently ranks on models.com's "Industry Icons" and was ranked on its "Top Sex ...

, and Yasmin Wijnaldum. '' Glamour'' named Leyna Bloom as one of "6 Women Who Are Shaping the Future of Fashion” in the October 2018 issue. In March 2019, Leyna Bloom was the only transgender woman of color to walk

Paris Fashion Week Paris Fashion Week (, commonly ) is a series of designer presentations held semi-annually in Paris, France, with spring/summer and autumn/winter events held each year. Dates are determined by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. Pa ...

Fall/Winter 2019 at the Tommy Hilfiger x Zendaya fashion show in an all black cast. In March 2021, it was announced that Bloom would appear as a model in the July

swimsuit issue The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted c ...

of ''

'', making her the first openly transgender Black and Asian-American ''Sports Illustrated'' swimsuit issue model.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloom, Leyna 1990s births Living people Actresses from Chicago American actresses of Filipino descent American transgender actresses American female dancers African-American LGBTQ people American LGBTQ people of Asian descent LGBTQ people from Illinois Transgender female models 21st-century American LGBTQ people