MUNROE BERGDORF
Pushing the boundaries
PRIDE ICON AWARD SUPPORTED BY MAGNUM
The model turned activist is unrelenting in her battle to improve life for the trans community
Words Tom Stichbury
Photography Markus Bidaux HAIR & MAKEUP BY GRACIE COX
M odel. Writer. Activist. And now, as the recipient of an Attitude Pride ICON Award, supported by Magnum, Munroe Bergdorf can officially add ‘icon’ to the list. But the honour leaves her a little dumbfounded. “Oh, God,” she exclaims, when asked why she thinks she’s deserving of the title. “Maybe I represent the under-represented, and I’ve showed that even when you have a lot stacked against you, you can forge a path for yourself as yourself.”
Strutting onto London’s club scene as a DJ and ‘It girl’, Munroe went on to make history as the first trans person to grace the cover of Cosmopolitan UK and to be hired as the face of L’Oréal — only to be dropped weeks after the announcement for taking to Facebook to vent about a white-supremacy rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, she received an apology from the cosmetics giant. She’s also hosted her own TV show and podcast series, is a contributing editor at British Vogue; and rules every red carpet she sets foot on, to boot.