When Alex Consani struts into a New York City diner on a mild October afternoon, she has an air of calm about her. She’s carrying a Supreme skateboard and wearing a pair of Helmut Lang cargo pants and Adidas sneakers — a stark contrast from how we're used to seeing the 21-year-old model. In her viral TikTok videos, she often dons trendy miniskirts and sky-high stilettos, alternately screeching in public or kicking off a meme with her very online sense of humor. In real life, though, she’s just a girl from the San Francisco Bay Area, where relaxed, edgy fits are the norm.
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“Back home, skating is a big vibe," Consani says, sitting down for our interview. "Me and my friends have this saying: ‘That’s a Bay Area-ass fit,’ 'cause that’s really what it gives right now.” Her fit includes an oversize black graphic tee, a grungy/Y2K chain-link purse — and her skateboard. “The jeans, the sneakers, and the big, naaasty, sweeped-to-the-floor tee — in terms of my style, I always revert to that. It’s comfortable c*nt!”
Consani seems like a natural with a skateboard, but when I ask how long she’s been riding, she tells me it’s been only two days. My mouth drops. After our server takes our brunch order, I tell her that I've lived in New York City for six years and it took me a while to find the courage just to ride my bike through Manhattan.
“You’ve got to just do it!" Consani tells me. "I’ve wanted to learn for a while, and on Monday, my friends taught me.” She shows me videos on her iPhone of her friends doing ollies and kick-flips at an indoor skate park not far from where we’re eating. The Leo in her shines through as she gushes over her newfound passion while sharing the videos. Her energy is infectious.
It’s Consani's willingness and confidence to try anything that has gotten her where she is today: on a rocketship toward superstardom in fashion, something that comes only for a few, but that she appears to be taking on with ease.
In the last year Consani has risen from a social media darling-slash-model to become a bona fide fashion star, already leaving an indelible mark on the industry. In October, she walked in the first Victoria’s Secret fashion show since the brand’s six-year hiatus from the runway, which happened in part due to former CEO Ed Razek’s comments about trans women. Famously, the VS show is a milestone for models at any stage in their career, but Consani had not realized that she was actually making history: Alongside Valentina Sampaio, Consani became one of only two trans women to ever walk the runway in the iconic show.
“That was a really impactful moment," Consani recalls. “It’s crazy, though, because I didn’t even realize I was the first to walk until after I walked the show. I thought that Valentina had already walked a while ago, so having that in my mind took the pressure away.”
For Consani, the VS runway was about more than just the show: It was about standing in her truth. Every year the show takes place, it amasses millions of streams worldwide. This year the VS fashion show, at its peak, garnered over 2.5 million views on YouTube, making it the platform's most streamed entertainment broadcast thus far this year — a monumental feat. But even more monumental was Consani’s presence on such a historic night.
In a world where trans bodies are stringently politicized and scrutinized by far-right forces, this is a clear sign of change. Despite trans people making up 0.6% of the US population, according to UCLA’s Williams Institute, our existence has never been discussed as much as it is today. Consani is acutely aware of what her hyper-visibility means in an industry built on of aesthetics and beauty.
“At this level, [there] haven’t been any references,” she says. “It’s really impactful to be [among] the first [to walk for Victoria's Secret] because I’m able to take the hate. If I get called out for something, but it’s something that I truly and morally believe in, I have absolutely no problem with it.”
Before “Miss Mawma” ("Friends used to call me mother, as a joke, and mama was taken, so I made my username ms.mawma," Consani explains of the affectionate moniker) was walking the runways of the world, she was a girl on TikTok. Whether sipping cucumber water to “Lifestyle” by Rich Gang or running down the street in her own slow-motion movie sequence, Consani has quickly become one of Gen Z’s most recognizable faces. At age 16, she signed with IMG Models, and not long after, moved to New York City, the main backdrop for her most well-known TikToks. Her account @CaptainCrook has gained nearly 4 million followers, all hopelessly devoted to her absurdist comedy and getting a sneak peek into the life of a supermodel.
“I came into fashion at a time when people were looking for a space for diversity. I’ve talked to so many of the great trans models like Dominique Jackson and Connie Fleming,” Consani tells me. “Their experiences were so crazy. Hearing how much they had to push the barriers for me to be where I am today, I could never compare my situation to theirs.”
How Consani operates as a model is reminiscent of the supers who came before her. She's paving her own way, which gets nodded to in the editorial accompanying this story, wherein Consani plays all the roles on set. And she has appeared in music videos from the year’s hottest stars, including Charli XCX’s “360” and JT’s “OKAY.” For Consani, though, it’s about so much more than saturation in the zeitgeist; she’s breaking barriers.
In August, Consani became the first out trans woman nominated for Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council, and with this story, she makes her Condé Nast cover debut. “Growing up, my mom would always say ‘That’s en vogue’ to indicate that something’s good, and I’m very good today. I feel so gratified.… It means so much more than just me.”
Representation drove Consani to her current career. At 13 years old, she had the “fashion bug,” she says with a sly smile. “Something about it really enticed me, especially when I saw that there weren’t many other trans models out there.” That year, while attending a trans summer camp in Los Angeles, Consani met other Gen Z trans icons like Diesel muse Ella Snyder and activist Jazz Jennings. “I saw all these girls accomplish so much at such a young age," she recalls. "I was so inspired.”
When Consani got home to the Bay Area, she asked her parents to help her pursue her dreams of becoming a model. Her mother searched for agencies online before stumbling across the trans-focused Slay Model Management (how appropriate) on Facebook. From there, Consani became the youngest trans model ever signed to an agency.
For nearly a decade, Consani has been grinding away, attending go-sees and working toward her moment. Now that she has arrived, she wants to remind up-and-coming models — and her younger self — that patience is a virtue. “For a long time, I didn’t trust the process. I would do one job, then I wouldn’t work for a year. I think I needed that time to really develop myself," she reflects. "A lot of people are really pushing to do jobs, but I think divine timing is so real in this industry. You have to trust that things will come to you when they’re meant to.”
Today, all the things are coming to her: Whether walking the runway at Mugler, Tory Burch, Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Boss, and Roberto Cavalli or being the face of a campaign such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Consani is taking over. These achievements indicate success and progress that a 13-year-old Consani dreamed into fruition, but it’s not enough; she wants to see more.
Over the past few years, Consani has been jet-setting from show to show, from fashion house to fashion house. This past fashion week, she passed up an opportunity so that she could be in the shows, where she felt she could have an impact. “Being the first trans woman nominated [for Model of the Year],” she says, "I want to at least put all my effort into that to make sure I'm taking the opportunities that I'm being given."
To some this might seem like a Cinderella story, but Consani has faced many challenges when navigating new waters. She’s encountered people in the industry with odd views on trans women, which has placed her in a precarious position: Speaking up can put the opportunity at risk, but staying silent means being subject to transphobia. "They’ll do things that are either transphobic or physically unacceptable because maybe they don’t societally understand,” Consani says. “We’re at a point now where, generally, people recognize that you have to support a disadvantaged community in order for everyone to see them as equal.”
To put another point on it, the idea that fashion is changing because of what you see is a small part of the story. “Change in fashion is so stationary," says Consani. "I’m grateful that I’m here, but I feel like it’s digestible diversity.”
Diversity in fashion is a long-held discourse, especially in the age of social media. With disabled models like Aaron Rose Phillip on the cover of British Vogue and plus-size models like Precious Lee and Ashley Graham gracing the covers of Vogue and Vogue Brasil (Graham also walked the recent VS fashion show), change has been made. At the same time, though, it’s insufficient and infrequent. And, to echo Consani's point, it’s usually in “digestible” bites.
“When we have a conversation about fashion, we’re talking about what society views as beautiful or acceptable," she continues. "I don’t see the people who I’m inspired by doing the same jobs I’m doing or getting the same support. It’s upsetting. Where are the dolls of color? Where’s the South Asian models? The Native American/Indigenous models? I’m close to people in those communities, and it’s really changed my perception of fashion.”
While Consani has had to break through barriers against trans women in fashion, she has also had the privilege of fitting into many of the industry standards: Specifically, she’s tall, thin, and white. She understands this, saying that while she is happy to be part of the change in some ways, it is disheartening to witness the same people who supported her struggle to make ends meet. When Consani was new to New York, she found community among other trans women, many of them Black. “The personality that I have and the energy that I give is so heavily inspired by Black trans women,” she says. “People see me as kitschy and different, but if you’re ever around a Black doll, then you kind of get the same energy that I’m celebrated for. I’m celebrated because I’m white.”
The word “doll” is a term of endearment from one trans woman to another. Through this language, we know who our sisters are. Whether two trans women have known each other for two minutes or two decades, we identify each other with this term to denote our shared experiences and affirm each other in our collective struggle. As a Black trans woman, it’s significant for me to hear Consani speak about how we are similar at one mutual intersection and to also acknowledge the differences we face through opposing intersections of race.
“I’m not going to let that go unrecognized because, if you look back in fashion, the majority of the references are Black women, and more specifically Black trans women,” Consani says with fervor. An older woman at the next table casts a strange glance at us, but Consani pays her no mind. “Even the fashion girls of today and the language they use are heavily influenced by other people, and the people who are influencing them are not given their flowers.”
The language Consani refers to includes popular terms such as “tea,” “shade,” and “drag.” This is often conflated with Gen Z language, but as every trans woman knows, the Black dolls started all of it. The resurgence — and appropriation — of this language has grown through TikTok and Twitter stan culture. These terms derive most notably from ballroom culture, which has been popularized by Paris Is Burning and, more recently, made more universal by notable television shows such as Pose, RuPaul’s Drag Race, and Legendary.
“There’s more we can do," says Consani, “and it starts with fostering a conversation. It’s scary, though, because if you talk about the need for diversity to someone in power, they might X you out and say, ‘Well, if you’re upset then we’ll just make sure you’re not included.’ And that’s not how it should be.”
Consani continues, "Fashion, now more than ever, values a voice. If you have the ability to use your voice, then you have to use it.” She regularly uses her voice to entertain and educate her audience of nearly 5 million people across TikTok and Instagram: “Advocating for myself [and others] now will make it easier for other girls in the future.”
Visibility like Consani’s and her peers’ comes at a crucial time amid the US political landscape. Across the country, far-right lawmakers and conservative pundits alike gather to combat trans existence in an attempt to squash out the light and love of the community. Recently in states such as Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, an onslaught of anti-trans legislation has been introduced, targeting the bathrooms young people use, their access to health care, and more. In Consani’s home state of California a bill was introduced that would require school officials to immediately alert parents if their child identifies as a different gender than they were assigned at birth.
These laws infringe on the bodily autonomy of trans youth — and some even attempt to encroach on the bodily autonomy of trans adults. Every time a trans person rebels against bigoted ideologies by living boldly and authentically, they are challenging the status quo and solidifying a future for the next generation. Whether we are on magazine covers or living in a small town in Tennessee, our existence and our joy is a testament to our collective strength and shared struggle toward liberation.
While Consani takes on the influx of attention and weight of historic firsts with humility and ease, she still finds time to be a 21-year-old. Lately, she’s been watching some horror films like Helter Skelter (2012), directed by Mika Ninagawa, and Cuckoo, starring her friend and fellow model Hunter Schafer.
“I’ve been getting back into Hannah Montana. That was my childhood show. In terms of music, I’ve been listening to everything from Hannah Montana. Like ‘Blue Jeans,’’, do you remember that?” I shake my head no, even though I still bump Miley Cyrus to this day. To remind me, Consani breaks out into song, showing off her raspy, melodic mezzo-soprano voice. Singing is yet another one of Consani’s many talents. As our interview concludes, we stroll down 23rd Street together, soaking up the sun. “It’s amazing weather in New York today. It’s October, so it shouldn’t be 80 degrees today, but I’m a California girl. I’m happy that it is.”
I watch her skate down the street for a meeting with her modeling agency. Today, Manhattan. Tomorrow, the world. For Consani, the sky’s the limit.
Photographer Angalis Field
First Assistant Casey Steffens
Second Assistant Ariel Pomerantz
Digi Tech Tim Zwicky
Retoucher Cooper Winterson at My Own Color Lab
Secondary Retoucher Alberto Maro
Prop Stylist Leo Swartz
Prop Stylist Assistant Perla Jiminez
Wardrobe Stylist Kirby Marzec
Stylist Assistant Gerardo Uzcategui Vivas
Tailor Christopher "Majors" Ivery at Stitched Tailors
Hair Stylist Erol Karadag at MA+ Group
Makeup Artist Sena Murahashi at MA+ Group
Manicurist Gina Edwards at SEE Management
Design Director Emily Zirimis
Designer / Production Liz Coulbourn
Associate Visuals Editor / Production Bea Oyster
Production Statement Of
Producer Hannah Kinlaw
Producer Chelsea Moynehan
Production Assistant Kate G
Manager, Creative Development Amalie MacGowan
BTS Ali Farooqui
Senior Fashion Editor Tchesmeni Leonard
Associate Fashion Editor Samantha Gasmer
Assistant Fashion Editor Tascha Berkowitz
Editorial Credits
Editor-in-Chief Versha Sharma
Executive Editor Danielle Kwateng
Features Director Brittney McNamara
Style Director Alyssa Hardy
Talent Director Gabrielle Seo
Video Director Ali Farooqui
Associate Fashion and Beauty Editor Donya Momenian
Associate Editor Aiyana Ishmael
Contributing Editor Sara Delgado
News and Politics Editor Lex Mcmenamin
Editorial Assistant Skyli Alvarez
Associate Director of Audience Development & Analytics Mandy Velez Tatti
Senior Social Media Manager Honestine Fraser
Senior Copy Manager Dawn Rebecky
