First, Covergirl announced its newest Coverboy. Then, Maybelline debuted its first male ambassador. And now, L’Oréal has announced its first transgender spokesperson with the hiring of Hari Nef. It’s about time! Times are changing and we expect more brands, even those beyond the beauty industry, to follow suit.
Hari Nef has become known for breaking ceilings with many ‘firsts.’ She was the first transgender woman to front a major UK magazine when she was featured on the summer 2016 issue of ELLE. She was also the first trans woman to sign to IMG Worldwide, and now she’s making bigger waves with her L’Oréal campaign. But, she’s also more than your typical model.
Hari doesn’t just walk the walk on the runway and is more than a pretty face. She graduated from Columbia University in 2015 and soon after, her modeling career took off with her runway debut at New York Fashion Week. When she’s not speaking her mind about trans issues or strutting down the runway, she writes. Her writing has been featured in Dazed and Vice and she also wrote an advice column for Adult magazine. Her college theater experience has also come in handy when she was cast in the second season of Amazon Prime’s Transparent.
Find out how she shattered the glass ceiling and what else is on her expanding resume.