A model for Clairol hair-color and Italian Vogue, Tracey Norman was the first black transgender model.
She was the face of one of the hair-colors for Clairol’s “Born Beautiful Line, #512, Dark Auburn. “They used my box for six years, because they said it was the hottest-selling box,” said Norman. Thousands of Clairol customers were emulating the look, and affirming the beauty, of a transgender woman.” Like so many trans models before and since, Tracey had to hide her identity from her employers, and despite the acceptance of people who knew, she was eventually outed and forced to leave to US to find work, where she modeled for two years in Paris and Milan. After returning to New York, she became involved in the drag-ball community, which she has been involved in ever since, sharing the catwalk skills she learned from fashion houses like Vogue and Balenciaga.
Because of her, the path that trans women and especially trans women of color have to walk is a little smoother, though nowhere near safe. But we have more proud and public role models for trans women of color than ever before, with Tracey’s story joining their ranks.
Check out the rest of our Women’s History Month project, #BecauseOfHer!
(c) Redefining Body Image – Read entire story here.