Ariel Nicholson Murtagh (born 2001) is an American model and LGBT rights activist. She was the first openly transgender model to walk in a fashion show for
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...
and the first openly transgender person to appear on the cover of '' Vogue''. Nicholson has also been featured on the cover of '' Italian Vogue'' and '' Love''.
Early life
Nicholson was born and raised in Mahwah, New Jersey. At an early age, she told her parents that she did not "belong as a boy" and, in fifth grade, began using female pronouns and taking
Lupron
Leuprorelin, also known as leuprolide, is a manufactured version of a hormone used to treat prostate cancer, breast cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, as part of transgender hormone therapy, for early puberty, or to perform chemical castra ...
to suppress the effects of male puberty. She was also seeing a therapist from the Ackerman Institute for the Family at the time. When she was in eighth grade she was featured in the PBS documentary ''Growing Up Trans'', where she talked about her decision to go on estradiol.
Career
While she was a high school student, Nicholson signed with DNA Model Management. She was chosen by Raf Simons to walk for
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...
's 2018 Spring/Summer fashion show, making her modelling debut. She was the first transgender woman to walk in a Calvin Klein fashion show. Nicholson has since appeared in Calvin Klein advertisement campaigns, editorials in '' Vogue'' and '' W'', and has walked in runway shows for
Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...
and Miu Miu. She was photographed by Mert & Marcys for the cover of '' Loves anniversary issue.
She was featured on the September 2020 cover of '' Italian Vogue''.
In October 2020, Nicholson was featured in '' V Magazines ''The Thoughts Leaders'' issue. In 2021, Nicholson became the first openly transgender person to be featured on the cover of '' Vogue''.
Activism
She volunteers with Gender & Family Project, an organization that supports transgender youth and their families.