Tracey Norman

Do you know about the pioneering career of Tracey ‘Africa’ Norman, the first African American trans model to achieve prominence in the industry?  

Let’s head back to New York in 1975, when Tracey found herself being photographed and ‘discovered’ by legendary photographer Irving Penn for Vogue Italia. Norman wasn’t booked for this casting, but snuck in with a group of models. Prior to this, Norman had achieved moderate success as a model in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey. 

Soon after the Vogue Italia shoot, Tracey was a success, booking modelling work across America. Walking shows, catalogue work, and beauty campaigns. She appeared on the box of Clairol’s ‘Born Beautiful’ hair colour, representing the shade 512, dark auburn. This led her to land an exclusive contract with Avon, a household name in America in the 1970s. 

Norman was seen as a natural beauty and didn’t disclose her trans identity. This would all sadly change in 1980, when, on a photoshoot for Essence Magazine, an assistant discovered that she was a trans woman. This was disclosed to editor Susan L. Taylor. Overnight, all of Tracey’s work dried up, her agent dropped her, and no magazine would publish her photographs.

This tragic tale of bigotry was serialised in FX’s POSE, portrayed by Indya Moore’s character Angel Evangelista. Norman moved to Paris and spent six months as a fit model for Balenciaga. After this, Tracey returned to her community and the ballroom scene in New York. She joined the house of Africa - adopted Africa as her middle name - and would go on to win Mother of the Year multiple times.

Tracey Norman’s rise and fall lay all but forgotten until 2015, when The Cut ran an in-depth profile on Norman’s career, charting her successes. The industry welcomed Tracey back to the fold, and in 2016 Clairol would book Norman again to front their ‘Colour as real as you are’ hair colour range campaign. She would also be one of the first openly trans models to appear on the cover of Harper's Bazaar magazine in 2017.

Tracey ‘Africa’ Norman’s success has shaped culture, and she will always remain an icon and pioneer of the trans+ community.