Hari Nef

Why We Love Hari: As the first transgender woman signed to IMG Worldwide, Hari Nef [2] has been very vocal about trans rights and visibility in both fashion and film. Since she made her runway debut at New York Fashion Week in 2015, she has walked for Gucci and appeared in Vogue, Haper's Bazaar, and a L'Oréal campaign. Most recently, Nef has starred in the series You [3] and in the film Assassination Nation.

Hari's Style: Having been part of the fashion industry for years, Hari has developed a distinct sense of style that mixes femininity with structured pieces. Regarding her recent transition into a more demure style, Nef told Fashionista [4], "my fashion has quieted down a bit because I have felt the liberty to choose things that sort of frame me and are not necessarily statement-making distractions."

Amandla Stenberg

Why We Love Amandla: Starring in films like The Hate U Give [5], The Darkest Minds [6], and Everything, Everything [7], Amandla Stenberg has cemented herself as a rising star. But it isn't just her acting that makes her such a powerhouse. Amandla has been outspoken about intersectional feminism and queer identity. In 2018, she came out as gay in an interview [8] and has since talked about the difficulties of intersectional identities and the struggle of being both black and queer.

Amandla's Style: Amandla has gone through a fashion evolution since she entered Hollywood. Her clothing has become inventive, playing with daring pieces and interesting shapes. Being praised for both her style and her activism, she has appeared on the covers of Time Magazine, Seventeen Magazine, Teen Vogue, and many more publications.

Shaun Ross

Why We Love Shaun: Shaun Ross may be best known as the first international African-American male model with albinism, and while his unique look has made him a sought-after talent, it has also given him the platform to speak about his experiences with bullying and discrimination as a gay man and minority. Over the course of his career, Ross has walked for some of the biggest fashion houses, starred in music videos for Beyoncé and Lana Del Rey, and appeared in H&M's LGBT 2018 Pride line.

Shaun's Style: Shaun Ross often plays with color and shapes and has developed an eye-catching and fluid sense of style. From chic pastel suits to flowing caftans, he has never been afraid to mix things up.

Alok Vaid-Menon

Why We Love Alok: Alok Vaid-Menon is an American poet, performance artist, and LGBTQ+ rights activist. Identifying as gender nonconforming and transfeminine, they have worked to destroy notions of gender-based beauty standards and stress the importance of embracing oneself. They released their inaugural poetry book FEMME IN PUBLIC [9] in 2017 and have presented their work in more than 40 countries at 400 venues.

Alok's Style: Alok Vaid-Menon uses clothing as a political statement. They initially began dressing up for live performances, but soon enough that bled into everyday life. Now Alok is known for their colorful and outgoing wardrobe, sporting pieces like banana print pants and yellow go-go boots.

Janelle Monáe

Why We Love Janelle: Janelle Monáe [10] has always been a gender-bent style icon, challenging social constructs and gender norms. In April of 2018, she came out as pansexual in a cover story for Rolling Stone [11] calling herself a "free-ass motherf*cker." Her latest album featured hit singles such as "Pynk" and "Make Me Feel" that pushed the boundaries of gender and sexuality in a very open and public way. In an interview with Them. [12], Monáe claimed, "for me, sexuality and sexual identity and fluidity is a journey. It's not a destination."

Janelle's Style: No one does fashion quite like Janelle Monáe, which was further proven by the Christian Siriano look [13] she wore to the 2019 Met Gala [14]. Monáe began her career donning suits and bow ties but has now expanded her repertoire to play with texture and color in a fun new way.

Jacob Tobia

Why We Love Jacob: Jacob Tobia is one of the most outspoken genderqueer activists of this day and age. Tobia has a long list of titles and accolades to attest to this: they are an LGBTQ rights activist, a feminist writer and author of Sissy: A Coming of Gender Story [15], a coproducer and host for the MSNBC television series "Queer 2.0," member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 and the OUT 100, the new face of queer-inclusive beauty line Fluide [16], and many many more.

Jacob's Style: Tobia has fun with fashion. They are often sporting very feminine and colorful pieces that are paired in a surprising yet cohesive way. Despite this sense of playfulness, they have spoken out about the politicization of fashion in the trans community and how clothing choices can both be a cause for violence and liberation for nonbinary and transgender people.

Troye Sivan

Why We Love Troye: Troye Sivan [17] has become a queer icon. Since he came out as gay in 2013, his music career has blossomed and so has his openness about his queer identity. Sivan has written songs about the gay experience such as "Revelation," which was featured in the film Boy Erased [18], and "Bloom," which openly discusses gay sexuality. Most recently, Sivan starred in a MAC Viva Glam 25 [19] beauty campaign, which pushed gender expectations for beauty.

Troye's Style: While Troye Sivan's style often incorporates more "masculine" pieces, Sivan showed an exuberant edge to his style in the music video for "Bloom," [20] where he wore a large floral two-piece outfit and a series of experimental makeup looks.

Chella Man

Why We Love Chella: As a deaf, trans, genderqueer artist, Chella Man has been making his way into the fashion world. He recently became the first deaf, transgender model to be signed to IMG modeling agency. Man has been very outspoken about the process of his transition. He documented his first year on testosterone through a series of photographs and wrote a piece about it for Them. [21].

Chella's Style: Chella Man has been adding his own hand-painted designs to his clothing and wearing them to red carpet events for the LGBTQ+ community. Recently, he made a statement at the HRC Greater New York Gala by wearing a skirt for the first time since he started taking testosterone, stating in an Instagram post [22], "I wore the exact article of clothing I used to be forced to wear with PRIDE."

Mikaela Straus aka King Princess

Why We Love Mikaela: Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter King Princess made it clear she was a queer artist to watch when she released her debut single "1950." Not only is the track a queer love song, but the video that accompanies it features Straus herself with a pencil-mustache holding a girl's hand. She has been open about identifying as genderqueer. The 20-year-old told The Cut [23], "I'm a great example of somebody who is gay, but exists on a very complicated gender spectrum."

Mikaela's Style: Despite her impending fame, Straus has maintained a very casual sense of style, often wearing jeans and beat-up sneakers. Her true fashion sense comes out in her music videos. In her video for "Holy," [24] she sported a hoodie made of bubble wrap, and in her video for "Upper West Side," [25] she wore a fully sequined rainbow top.

Nico Tortorella

Why We Love Nico: Nico Tortorella has never been afraid to defy expectations. Starring as Josh in TV Land's Younger [26], Tortorella identifies as nonbinary, gender fluid, and pansexual. In 2018, their wedding to fitness instructor Bethany Meyers [27] went viral for the couple's dramatic, gender-fluid wedding looks. Since then, the couple has been open about their queer polyamorous [28] partnership.

Nico's Style: Nico Tortorella is a collector. They have gathered tons of hats, vintage sunglasses, and clothing pieces. Their style seems to reflect this, putting together pieces from many eras that may not seem obviously cohesive but always provide an eye-catching surprise.

Shiva Raichandani

Why We Love Shiva: Raichandani identifies as nonbinary and works to break the heteronormative expectations in Bollywood dance and raise awareness about gender fluidity. They have danced on Britain's Got Talent, India's Got Talent, and France's Got Talent and has a TEDx talk about nonbinary representation [29].

Shiva's Style: As the principal dancer and lead instructor at the London School of Bollywood, Shiva Raichandani has made serious waves in the dance world for performing wearing makeup and the traditional lehnga, which has historically been worn by women. Outside of the dance world, they often wear colorful pieces that show clear inspiration from Bollywood tradition.

Indya Moore

Why We Love Indya: When season one of Pose [30] premiered in 2017, all eyes were on Indya Moore. The actress, producer, and model made a huge splash as the character Angel, a trans woman of color and sex worker who falls for a client. Trans visibility on-screen is still next to none, but Moore told Teen Vogue [31], "I want cis people to see themselves in me. I want them to see myself in me in ways that I've been forced to see myself in cis people for so long."

Indya's Style: Indya Moore's style is unapologetic. From sheer gowns to a braid so long she carries it on a ring [32], she has made it clear that she is going to wear what she wants, how she wants to. Recently, Moore was featured on the cover of Elle Magazine, becoming Elle's first transgender cover star.

Keiynan Lonsdale

Why We Love Keiynan: Keiynan Lonsdale became a name to know when the Australian actor took the MTV Movie Awards stage and said, "I just want to say to every kid, you can live your dreams and wear dresses, You can live your dreams and kiss the one that you love… You can live your dreams and you can be yourself." He made this speech a year after coming out as bisexual via Instagram [33] and quickly became a star in the LGBTQ+ community. Some of the actor's biggest roles have been in The CW's The Flash and in the film Love, Simon [34].

Keiynan's Style: Lonsdale recently modeled in a gender-fluid shoot with Ezra Miller for Vogue's Met Spring Exhibit [35] for the upcoming 2019 Met Gala. It was clear that he was a perfect fit for this shoot, seeing as his everyday style blends masculinity and femininity along with his cultural background.

Starley

Why We Love Starley: Indie singer/songwriter Starley used music to manage her emotions when she came out as bisexual. Her song "Love Is Love" is an ode to unconditional love and embracing those you love no matter who they choose to be.

Starley's Style: Starley approaches her fashion choices with the same kind of openness, telling Vogue Australia [36], "My fashion changes with my different moods. . . I definitely feel like what I wear is very much a representation of what I feel on the inside."

Jonathan Van Ness

Why We Love Jonathan: Jonathan Van Ness is definitely the liveliest member of Queer Eye's [37] Fab Five. Though he is known for the Netflix serious, Van Ness has been a public figure for a few years now with his series "Gay of Thrones" and his partly political podcast "Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness."

Jonathan's Style: The hairdresser, podcaster, and television personality is known for his daring fashion choices [38], ranging from cropped sweatshirts to platform boots. Through his outfits, Jonathan has promoted choosing fashion you like despite gender roles that are assigned to clothing.

Andreja Pejic

Why We Love Andreja: Bosnian-Australian model Andreja Pejic began her career as an androgynous male model in 2010. After transitioning and becoming one of the first transgender models in the industry in 2014, she openly talked about the experience and the modeling industry's reaction to that. Since then Pejic has appeared on the covers of Vogue, Elle, and Allure and made her film debut in 2018 in The Girl in the Spider's Web [39].

Andreja's Style: Andreja Pejic has embraced a feminine style, and she has stood by that through controversy. In 2012, Russian entrepreneur Miroslava Duma criticized Pejic for wearing feminine clothing, claiming she would never publish someone like her on her site. Pejic responded to the controversial statements by shedding light on the current state of the fashion industry, claiming in an Instagram post [40], "Fashion hasn't always celebrated, to quote [Duma] 'people like us.' Today I can say I've walked for iconic designers like [Marc Jacobs] and even landed on pages of American Vogue as none other than myself."

Jamie Windust

Why We Love Jamie: Nonbinary model and activist Jamie Windust has a look that nobody could ever forget. The editor in chief of LGBTQ+ magazine FRUITCAKE, public speaker, and model made news after speaking out about their homophobic and misogynistic experience [41] as an extra on the set of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Windust has also been a vocal activist for nonbinary rights and has campaigned for nonbinary people to be recognized on official documents and passports.

Jamie's Style: Windust told CNN [42], "my style is one of the most important ways for me, as a nonbinary person, to express my gender." Their style expression is defiant, choosing pieces that many would find outrageous. They also use makeup as a form of self-expression, wearing hot-pink blush accents and dramatic eye shadow with an artistry that people often save for dramatic moments.

Miss Benny

Why We Love Miss Benny: Miss Benny (aka Ben J. Pierce) began his career as a YouTube star [43], gaining over 200,000 subscribers. In June of 2017, he came out in a YouTube video titled "Sincerely, and Internet Gay Boy," and since then he has been pushed into the mainstream. He is set to star as the lead in The CW's upcoming show Glamorous, where he will play a gender nonconforming high school graduate who starts doing makeup tutorials on YouTube.

Miss Benny's Style: Miss benny told Them. [44] that he wants to be "a teenage, edgy, sex-kitten party boy . . . in a nuanced way." Inspired by pop artists like Charli XCX and Carly Rae Jepsen, Miss Benny's style is all over the spectrum. Sometimes he sports button-downs and jeans, and other times he will wear knee-high shiny black boots. It is this versatility that makes Miss Benny both relatable and sensational.

Nakhane

Why We Love Nakhane: South African actor and musician Nakhane has faced persecution since he starred in the film The Wound as a gay man in the Xhosa community. Nakhane won Best Actor at the Durban International Film Festival for the role, but soon South Africans were threatening to kill him and he had to leave the country. As a gay man himself, he knows the importance of LGBTQ+ visibility in black communities. He told GQ [45], "The erasure of queer bodies in Xhosa initiation rites is incredibly dangerous." He came out with his album "You Will Not Die" in February 2019, which he wrote after leaving his church, which promoted anti-gay ideology.

Nakhane's Style: If you were going to reduce Nakhane's style to one word, that word would be bold. His looks often feature simple, clean lines paired with a jaw-dropping statement piece — for example, Nakhane has started wearing suits with a BDSM-style harness underneath to his live performances. With every masculine look he wears, there is a touch of femininity added. By infusing queer statements pieces and feminine touched into his wardrobe, Nakhane has created a signature look.

Aaron Philip

Why We Love Aaron: Aaron Philip is black, disabled, trans, and gender nonconforming, and she has not let that hold her back. On the contrary, she owes her career to all of her identifiers as well as her incredible confidence. In 2017, Philip's career began when she tweeted [46], "honestly when i get scouted/discovered by a modeling agency it's OVER for y'all! by y'all i mean the WORLD! it's real inclusivity/diversity hours folks, get into it!" Soon she became the first black, trans, disabled model to sign to Elite Model Management.
Aaron's Style: Aaron Philip is not afraid of taking style risks. If you read through her Instagram feed, you can see her in fishnets and feather boas, sporting her signature bleach blond hair. Philip has cited artists like FKA Twigs and Charli XCX as her style inspiration.

Juliana Huxtable

Why We Love Juliana: Artist, model, writer, and DJ are just a few of the titles Juliana Huxtable lays claim to. Huxtable is widely known for her artwork, which centers around trans experience, queer identity, black femininity, and normative gender and sexuality and has been shown in places from The Whitney Museum of American Art to the Guggenheim Museum. Huxtable also created a trans-inclusive party in NYC called Shock Value, which combined both art and a safe space for the transgender community.

Juliana's Style: Juliana Huxtable has long been involved in the fashion world, but her style has a political edge. Outside of increasing queer visibility by modeling for fashion labels like Donna Karan and Chromat, she has also incorporated components of her style into her pieces and exhibitions. For example, her Reena Spaulings exhibition [47] featured her lips with her signature blue lipstick.

Travis Alabanza

Why We Love Travis: English performance artist, poet, and writer Travis Alabanza has been referred to by many publications as the more prominent emerging queer artistic voice of this era. Alabanza's most well-known work is a show called Burgerz [48], which is based on an experience they had where someone on the street called them a "tranny" and threw a burger at them. Alabanza has also been an open critic of the current feminist movement, claiming it often promotes transphobic ideas of gender.

Travis' Style: Travis Alabanza's clothing stands out in a big way, which can be both beautiful and dangerous. They are often sporting typically feminine pieces like pencil skirts and ruffled blouses, and they have been outspoken about how this has affected their day to day life. Alabanza told CNN [49], "My clothes (and the response I get for wearing them), remind me everyday that I want a world that does not limit our safety because of how we dress."