photographer or somebody from a modeling
agency would notice me,” she says.
She developed an Instagram following, un-
til she drew enough interest that she was forced
to make a choice. “I didn’t want anyone to out
me as trans,” she says. Every time she looked
up other trans women in entertainment, she’d
see internet memes with before-and-after
pictures, showing them in their younger male
bodies. “I didn’t want anyone to have control
over how people saw me,” she says. “I wanted
to have that power myself.”
A video she posted to YouTube about how
it wasn’t gay for men to be attracted to trans
women went viral. NBC Out featured her in
an article depicting her life as a young model
living in a “hostel-style living situation.” In
reality, she was still in a group home in foster
care. And a week after the video posted, one of
the girls in the home jumped her, ripped out
her hair, and attempted to strangle her while
screaming, “You fucking man.”
Though it took years before she signed to
an established modeling agency, IMG, Insta-
gram proved to be her safe space. Fans not only
accepted her as trans, they celebrated her for
it. Oak, an independent brand, put her on the
runway. Man Repeller called her to be in a
shoot with Dior.
She even joined the aughts version of the
ballroom scene depicted on Pose, becoming a
member of House of Xtravaganza, which led
to her getting cast in a movie called Saturday
Church, which led to her meeting her manager,
who got her an audition for Pose.
When she stepped in front of Ryan Murphy
and co-creators Steven Canals and Brad Fal-
chuk to read for Angel, no one in the room knew
that a few months prior, she had fled foster care
for the final time and had wound up homeless.
Indya remembers that as she finished her two
scenes, “Ryan jumped up and he said, ‘I have
nothing.’ I didn’t know what he meant.”
She was in a park getting ice cream when
she got the phone call. “I just knew my life
was going to change,” she says. “I knew I had
a chance to teach the world something that
would help more people to be safe.”
Indya can’t stop twerking. “I have to. It’s nec-
essary. I’m claiming my cultural space in this
dress.” Even though she laments her “skinny
ass,” she still knows how to shake it, as is her
heritage. “That’s how you know I’m from the
Bronx,” she says. “I’m twerking one ass-cheek.
That’s talent.”
It’s the night of our pharmacy trip, and
we’re in the walk-up apartment where her
stylist, Ian Bradley, has amassed a collection of
clothes for her to wear in Los Angeles. Indya
seems a million pounds lighter than during
our first meeting, as if unburdened now that
I know her life story. She strips in front of me
and picks out an Altuzarra knit dress that she
refuses to wear with its modest slip. “People are
going to make fun of my skin no matter what I
step into,” she says. “What am I covering up?”
She takes her public image seriously, al-
most as a political act. Getting to appear in
Louis Vuitton’s campaign and represent the
brand at Paris Fashion Week was downright
revolutionary. “Working with Indya on our
prefall portfolio and on the show, I also got
to know her better and was left with the feel-
ing that I had met an exceptional person,”
Ghesquière says. “She is showing all of us that
not only trans people, but every person who
has been labeled by society as being out of the
norm, can define their own path and go on to
conquer the world. And yes, she also looks
gorgeous doing it.”
Pose may have changed Indya’s life, but it
also amplified every trauma she’d been carrying
with her. Certain scenes in Angel’s arc, as a sex
worker who falls in love with a client but who
longs for a sense of belonging, would render
her dazed or leave her in tears. And she wasn’t
alone; a few of her costars faced the same kind
of rejection and homelessness that she did. She
bonded with co-creator Canals in particular,
who happens to be a queer man of color who
grew up in the same neighborhood she did.
“I think for us there’s just an understanding
of the work and the strength and the resilience
that it takes to get to the point that we’re both
in now,” Canals says. Whenever he and Indya
have a moment alone on set, or backstage at
an event or award show, he grabs her hands
and looks into her eyes and says, “From the
Bronx to here.”
But there’s also been so much light. Indya’s
mother is back in her life. Although they’d
already begun to reconcile, Pose sped up the
process by allowing Gloria insight into a trans
world she hadn’t been able to visualize. It’s
been a hard road, but Gloria tells me she started
to come around when she realized she was able
to care for trans people in her work as a nurs-
ing attendant. Could she really not see a way
to treat Indya with the same love and respect?
And she now understands the importance of
using proper pronouns. “I can’t say ‘he’ in the
street,” she explains. “That’s jeopardizing my
child’s life, is how I have to think about it.”
We close out the night noshing at the 24-
hour restaurant Empanada Mama’s. A group
of young women walk by our table, then turn
back and shyly ask Indya for hugs. A young man
at another table asks the waiter to slip her his
number. Another young guy outside invites us
over to his apartment to smoke weed. We de-
cline. I say goodbye to Indya as she heads home
with a bag full of empanadas for her mom. ▪
ELLE (ISSN 0888-0808) (Volume XXXIV, Number 10) (June 2019) is published monthly by Hearst, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019 USA. Steven R. Swartz, President and Chief Executive Officer; William R. Hearst III, Chairman; Frank A. Bennack, Jr., Executive
Vice Chairman; Catherine A. Bostron, Secretary. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc.: David Carey, Chairman; Troy Young, President; Michael Clinton, President, Marketing and Publishing Director; Kate Lewis, Chief Content Officer; Debi Chirichella, Senior Vice President,
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NEWSSTAND AND
SUBSCRIBER COVERS
On Indya Moore: Embroi-
dered dress, earring by Lou-
is Vuitton, louisvuitton.com.
SUBSCRIBER COVER
On Céline Dion: Embellished
dress by Valentino Haute
Couture.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE 22: Cardigan, swimsuit
by Lisa Marie Fernandez, lisa
mariefernandez.com. Watch
by Rolex, $29,650, rolex.com.
Bracelet by Dior, 800-929-
DIOR. Bracelet by Carolina
Bucci, carolinabucci.com.
EDITOR’S LETTER
PAGE 30: Dress by Saint Lau-
rent by Anthony Vaccarello,
Saint Laurent (NYC).NEW ARRIVALS
PAGE 40: Watch by Ralph
Lauren, Ralph Lauren (NYC),
212-434-8000.FRONT ROW
PAGE 43: Top, pants by
Loro Piana, loropiana.com.
Ring by Verameat, verameat
.com. PAGE 51: Earrings by
Emmanuel Tarpin, $53,000,
emmanueltarpin.com.ACCESSORIES
PAGE 58: Narwhal necklaceby Venyx x Muzo, $31,000;
ring by Wilfredo Rosado
x Muzo, $180,000; bloom
earrings by Coomi x Muzo,
$69,000; ring by Selim Mou-
zannar x Muzo, $11,530;
muzostore.com.SHOPS
PAGE 62: Dress by Adriana
Degreas, adrianadegreas
.com, clubpalmiers.com/fr/
boutique, luisaworld.com.
Bikini, skirt by Oséree, oseree
.com, barneys.com, bergdorf
goodman.com, matches
fashion.com, brownsfashion
.com. Belt by Rixo, frances
may.com, modaoperandi.com. PAGE 63: Swimsuit by
Melissa Odabash, Gorsuch
stores nationwide. Rash
guard by Chromat, exclu-
sively at chromat.co.HOST CULTURE
PAGE 110: Blazer, top, jeans
by Proenza Schouler, proenza
schouler.com. Earrings by
Lagos, lagos.com. Ring by
Effy Jewelry, effyjewelry.com.INDYA RISES
PAGE 121: Dress, belt by Lou-
is Vuitton, louisvuitton.com.
PAGE 123: Dress by Valenti-
no, Valentino boutiques na-
tionwide. PAGE 124: Dress
by Balmain, Balmain (NYC).PAGE 126: Blouse by Michael
Kors Collection, michaelkors
.com. PAGE 127: Dress, panty
by Dior, Dior boutiques na-
tionwide. PAGE 129: Body-
suit, pants, belt, necklace by
Versace, versace.com. Sandals
by Dundas by Peter Dundas,
by special order, dundas
world.com.TVF X DVF
PAGE 137: Sweatshirt by
Gucci, gucci.com. Bead
bracelet (throughout) by
Carolina Bucci, exclusively at
carolinabucci.com. Bracelet
by Cartier, 800-CARTIER.
Ring (throughout) by EffyJewelry, effyjewelry.com.
PAGES 138–139: Dress by
TVF for DVF, select DVF
stores nationwide. Neck-
lace by Effy Jewelry, effy
jewelry.com. Necklace by
Andrea Fohrman, andrea
fohrman.com. PAGES 140–
141: Top, shorts by Chanel,
select Chanel boutiques
nationwide. Silk bracelet
(throughout) by Carolina
Bucci, carolinabucci.com.
Watch (throughout) by
Rolex, $29,650, rolex.com.
PAGE 142: Sweater by Khaite,
exclusively at khaite.com.
Bracelet by Dior, Dior bou-
tiques nationwide. PAGE 143:Top, skirt by TVF for DVF,
dvf.com.TRAVEL
PAGE 155: Dress by Silvia
Tcherassi, kirnazabete.com,
shop-capitol.com, forty
fiveten.com, modaoperandi
.com, saksfifthavenue.com.
Earrings by Cano Jewelry,
modaoperandi.com, The
Feathered (Mexico), Boho
Hunter (Miami), cano
jewelry.com.Prices are approximate.
ELLE recommends that
merchandise availability
be checked with local stores.SHOPPING GUIDE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 128INDYA RISES