Kenneth Cole, a company that sells shoes, clothes, and fashion accessories is featuring Nina Poon (trans woman) as part of their "We All Walk in Different Shoes" ad campaign.
Previously Kenneth Cole has been bold in their advertising by featuring two lesbian moms and their daughter. They have been in the forefront of queer visibility within the context of their advertising.
Thank Kenneth Cole for being LGBT inclusive and call toll free at 1 800 KEN COLE (536-2653).
More about Nina Poon
Born in 1975 in Saigon, Vietnam, the oldest son of traditional Chinese parents, multi faceted media artist Nina Poon immigrated with her family in 1978 to Orlando, Florida at age four.At age five she began showing prodigious talent with her childishly animated, Disney inspired drawings. It was during this initial stage of childhood that Nina first remembers identifying as female and experiencing viscerally, the knowledge that she was assigned to the wrong gender. Nina’s authentic, innate femininity made her the target of frequent abuse at the hands of her father. Alienated as a child by both her family and her peers, Nina immersed herself in her sketchbook and looked to fashion icons like Coco Chanel, with whom she shares a birthday, for inspiration.
On the basis of her abilities as an illustrator, Nina gained entry into Miami’s International Fine Arts College and at seventeen, left home to fulfill her dream of becoming a fashion designer.
While at college, Nina entered into the South Beach club scene and began performing with drag impresario Kevin Aviance. During the day she went on castings which led to an appearance on an international commercial for H&M with Marcus Schenkenberg and time on the runway for Hugo Boss’ 1994 Spring Collection. Nina soon became a regular on the Miami club circuit, where she befriended many local celebrities, among them Gianni Versace and Madonna, whose brother Christopher Ciccone cast and directed her in the Lonnie Gordon video IF YOU REALLY LOVE ME.
Nina moved to New York in the summer of 1994 and expanded her social network to include party promoters Richie Rich and Michael Alig. It was at this time that she caught the eye of Lady Miss Kier, who cast her in the Deee-Lite video PICNIC IN THE SUMMERTIME.
In New York, Nina found her true element. Despite having lived as a woman for the majority of her life, she completed her full surgical transition. She became a muse to designers Thuy Pham of United Bamboo and Jack McCollough of Proenza Schouler, both whom she briefly lived. While living with McCollough, Nina decided to try her hand at makeup, as a natural extension of her interest in fashion illustration. After assisting makeup artist Tracy Murphy during New York fashion week in 2000, Nina began honing her skills for the legendary Patricia Field at her signature Manhattan boutique, which led work on music videos, celebrity appearances and a position as key makeup artist for the HBO short film BETTY LA FLACA, winner of the 2006 Latin Film Festival Best Short Film.
Nina currently lives with her boyfriend Robert Jason, an Emmy award winning producer and filmmaker. Nina appears in Jason’s forthcoming docu-series on the lives of transsexual women in New York entitled BEING T. In addition to making appearances on the Fuse Network’s PANCE OFF DANCE OFF and Style Network’s SPLIT ENDS, Nina has been cast in her first motion picture speaking role in director Dito Montiel’s FIGHTING starring Terrence Howard and Channing Tatum. While there is an ongoing interest by casting agents in Nina, she also continues to enjoy her work as a makeup artist, fashion illustrator and has recently added photo retouching to her list of talents.
The Real World Brooklyn Cast Gets Transgendered
- Courtesy of Vevmo
The cast of The Real World Brooklyn looks to differentiate itself from the previous twenty seasons on MTV by having the first transgender cast member.
The cast's head shot compilation was posted on Vevmo and combined with my sources indicate the naming of the cast is as follows - starting clockwise from the top left.
- Kate - formerly Chris
- Sarah
- Baya Voce
- Devyn Simone
- Chet Cannon
- JD Ordonez
- Ryan Conklin
- Scott Herman
This would be the first time a transgender cast member would be on The Real World and hints to why for the first time filming starts with eight instead of the usual seven cast members.
The reason I am told there are eight cast members to start with is because Kate may be leaving for the transgender surgery in Taiwan during filming and then return post-op - similar to another MTV reality series True Life.
Other interesting highlights of this cast include:
- Devyn was the 2005 Miss American Teen National Pageant winner and is looking to be a singer.
- JD is a dolphin trainer from Miami and had reportedly dated CNN news anchorAnderson Cooper according to the Gawker.
- Chet is both a virgin and a mormon so the rest of the cast have taken it upon themselves to help him lose his virginity when they go out, which is generally in Manhattan since the Red Hook area has given the cold shoulder to the cast.
I love this movie!
Of course I cried.
Watch the preview above.
By the way Andrea James and Calpernia Addams are the couple in the background.
Watch the whole movie at this link.
