Alex Consani is a 21-year-old American model and TikTok creator who made history as the first transgender woman to win Model of the Year at the 2024 Fashion Awards. Born in California in 2003, she started modeling at age 12 and now walks for major brands like Chanel and Versace.
You might know Alex Consani from your TikTok feed, where she posts chaotic videos of herself dancing in subway cars or being intentionally loud in public spaces. Or you might recognize her from fashion week, where she walks runways for some of the world’s most exclusive brands. What makes her fascinating is that she refuses to separate these two worlds. She’s both the girl making absurd comedy sketches online and the model who just won the industry’s most prestigious title.
The California Kid Who Became Fashion’s Youngest Trans Model
Alex Monette Consani was born on July 23, 2003, in Petaluma, a small city in California’s wine country. Her mom works in water conservation. Her dad works with Guide Dogs for the Blind. This isn’t a story about fashion industry connections or wealthy parents pushing their kid into modeling. This is about a trans girl from a regular family who started expressing her identity at age four.
She began wearing feminine clothing as a preschooler. By age eight, she told her parents she was transgender and chose the name Alex. Her parents didn’t panic or resist. They sent her to a summer camp for transgender youth. She started hormone replacement therapy during puberty. The support she received at home would later become the foundation for everything that followed.
At 12 years old, Alex became the world’s youngest transgender model. Her mom found an advertisement on Facebook for Slay Model Management, a Los Angeles agency that exclusively represented trans models. That Facebook ad changed everything. By 13, she was doing photoshoots with established models. By 16, she had signed with IMG Models, the agency that represents supermodels like Claudia Schiffer and Gigi Hadid.
Most kids her age were worrying about high school. Alex was already building a modeling career that would eventually reach the highest levels of fashion.
How TikTok Made Her a Different Kind of Supermodel
High fashion models are supposed to maintain mystique. They’re supposed to be elegant, untouchable, carefully curated. Alex Consani threw that rulebook out the window when she started posting on TikTok in 2020.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when most people were baking bread and complaining about lockdowns, Alex created the account @alexconsani and started posting videos that can only be described as gleefully chaotic. She dances on subway platforms. She lip-syncs in crowded spaces. She’s loud, messy, and completely unapologetic about taking up space. The internet culture publication i-D noted that she became known for being “very loud and sort of annoying in very public spaces.”
This shouldn’t work. Models who want high-fashion credibility typically avoid seeming too accessible or silly. But Alex built a following that now exceeds 6 million people precisely because she refused to play that game. Her TikTok personality is the opposite of runway elegance. She’s goofy. She makes faces. She doesn’t care if you think she’s too much.
What’s remarkable is that this approach actually strengthened her fashion career instead of undermining it. Brands didn’t see her online presence as a liability. They saw someone who understood how Gen Z actually consumes media and builds connections. She proved you could walk for Chanel on Tuesday and post absurdist comedy on Wednesday without diminishing either pursuit.
Her highest engagement rate on social media hit 21.5 percent when she made Forbes’ Top Creators Fashion 50 list in 2023. That’s not just impressive. That’s evidence that authenticity beats polish when your audience values realness over perfection.
The Runway Career That Happened Fast
Alex moved to New York at 18 to attend Pace University. She had scholarships. She had plans. But in 2021, she made her runway debut for Tom Ford’s Spring/Summer collection, and everything changed.
That Tom Ford show wasn’t just another gig. It was the moment fashion insiders started paying serious attention. Within months, she was walking for Alexander McQueen and Versace. By 2023, Vogue named her one of the standout models of the season. She walked for Boss by Hugo Boss, Burberry, Chloé, Roberto Cavalli, and Coperni.
The university’s plans didn’t survive that momentum. Alex dropped out of Pace to pursue modeling full-time. Some people might see that as a risky decision. For her, it was recognizing that opportunities like this don’t wait for you to finish your degree.
Her career highlights kept stacking up. She became the face of Jean Paul Gaultier’s collaboration with the London brand Knwls. She worked with photographers like Mario Sorrenti and Harley Weir. She appeared on the covers of Vogue Italia and Vogue Japan. She walked for Chanel, Mugler, Balmain, Stella McCartney, Thom Browne, Marc Jacobs, and Givenchy.
Then came October 2024. Victoria’s Secret brought back its fashion show after a five-year hiatus, and Alex walked the runway alongside Valentina Sampaio. They became the first transgender models to appear in a Victoria’s Secret show. For someone who grew up watching those shows and dreaming about walking in them, this wasn’t just a booking. It was a full-circle moment that redefined what the brand represents.
Model of the Year 2024: What It Actually Means
On December 2, 2024, Alex Consani stood on the stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall and accepted the Model of the Year award at the British Fashion Awards. She wore a ripped Union Flag dress by Turkish-British designer Dilara Findikoglu. She became the first openly transgender person to win this title.
Her acceptance speech wasn’t a typical thank-you moment. She used the platform to talk about the people who made her success possible—specifically, Black transgender women who fought for space in an industry that didn’t want them.
She named Connie Fleming and Aaron Rose Philip, two Black trans models who faced rejection and discrimination while pushing doors open for others. She talked about the need to support people who feel insignificant in the fashion world. She called her win “a big step in the right direction,” but made it clear that one award doesn’t mean the work is finished.
Model and body activist Ashley Graham presented the award. “Baby Reindeer” star Nava Mau stood beside her. The room full of fashion industry power players cheered. The moment represented more than personal achievement. It showed how far the industry has moved in recognizing that diversity isn’t a trend—it’s the future.
The British Fashion Council’s Model of the Year award combines industry panel votes with public voting. Winning requires both professional respect and popular appeal. Alex earned both. Last year’s winner was plus-size model Paloma Elsesser. The year before, Black trans model Kai-Isaiah Jamal was nominated. The award’s recent history shows an industry actively working to expand who gets recognized and celebrated.
The Signature Look Everyone Recognizes
Walk into any room where people follow fashion, mention Alex Consani, and someone will immediately say “oh, the one with the bleached everything.” Her signature look—platinum blonde hair paired with bleached eyebrows—has become instantly recognizable.
CR Fashion Book called her features “fairy-like” and “distinctive.” They described her runway walk as “serious and powerful.” That contrast is part of what makes her compelling. She can be chaotic and silly on TikTok, then transform into a commanding presence the moment she steps onto a runway.
At 5’10”, she has the height that traditional modeling demands. But her appeal goes beyond measurements. She has presence. You can’t look away when she walks. Fashion critic Grace Clarke from L’Officiel called her “easily one of the biggest models” of 2024 and described her as “one of the most popular transgender models in the industry.”
The bleached aesthetic isn’t accidental. In an industry where models can blend, she made herself unmistakable. You see her once, you remember her. That’s strategic branding disguised as personal style.
Why She’s Different From Other Trans Models
Transgender models have worked in fashion for decades. Hari Nef, Hunter Schafer, and Valentina Sampaio—these women opened doors and changed perceptions. Alex Consani stands on their shoulders. But she’s doing something different.
Previous generations of trans models often had to prove their legitimacy by being traditionally beautiful, polished, and non-threatening. They had to make the industry comfortable. Alex doesn’t care about making anyone comfortable.
She built her following by being loud, messy, and unapologetically herself. She posts videos that some people find annoying. She takes up space in ways that make others uncomfortable. She’s not asking for permission or approval. That’s a generational shift.
Gen Z approaches identity differently from previous generations. Being transgender isn’t the only interesting thing about Alex Consani. It’s one aspect of who she is, alongside being funny, talented, ambitious, and occasionally irritating. She’s multifaceted in ways that older models often weren’t allowed to be.
She uses her platform for visibility, but she’s not performing representation as her primary job. She’s living her life, building her career, and letting that existence speak for itself. The difference matters.
When she won Model of the Year, she made sure to credit the Black trans women who fought before her. She understands she didn’t get here alone. But she’s also charting her own path, one that includes both high fashion and ridiculous TikTok videos, serious activism and silly comedy, runway elegance and subway chaos.
What Comes Next for Alex Consani
At 21, Alex Consani has already accomplished what many models never achieve in their entire careers. She’s walked for the biggest brands. She’s won the industry’s top award. She’s changed what people think a supermodel can be.
The question isn’t whether she’ll continue succeeding. The question is what that success will look like. More campaigns are coming. More runways. More magazine covers. Fashion loves a moment, and she’s having hers.
But beyond the bookings, her impact runs deeper. Every time a young trans person sees her on a runway or winning an award, they see proof that space exists for them. Every time a brand hires her, they signal that trans visibility isn’t a risk—it’s an asset. Every time she posts a chaotic TikTok video, she reminds people that trans women don’t have to be perfect or palatable to deserve respect and opportunities.
She’s setting a precedent for the next generation. Trans models who come after her won’t have to explain why they deserve to be there. Alex already answered that question.
The fashion industry moves fast. New faces emerge constantly. Yesterday’s breakthrough becomes tomorrow’s established name. Alex Consani seems positioned not just to survive that cycle but to define it. She’s not following trends. She’s creating them.
Watch for her. You won’t be able to miss her. That’s kind of the whole point.
