Emira D'Spain (born October 8, 1996) is an Eritrean/Polish-American model, former beauty director, and social media influencer. In 2022, she became the first Black transgender woman to model for Victoria's Secret. She has also been a cover girl for ''Glamour'' and was featured in '' Nylon''. D'Spain has modeled for Fenty Beauty, UGG,

Anastasia Beverly Hills Anastasia Beverly Hills, also known as ABH, is an American cosmetics company best known for its eyebrow products. The company was founded by Romanian-born Anastasia Soare in 1997 in Beverly Hills, California. Soare's daughter Claudia Soare, al ...

, and

NARS Cosmetics NARS Cosmetics is a French cosmetics and skin care company founded by make-up artist and photographer François Nars in 1994. The cosmetics line began with twelve lipsticks sold at Barneys New York. Since then, NARS has created various multi-us ...

. She worked as the beauty director for '' Paper'' prior to the magazine's folding in 2023. D'Spain is a beauty content creator on TikTok, where she has over one million followers. On TikTok, she posts ''Get Ready With Me Videos'', which have received over 85 million views.

Early life and education

D'Spain was born on October 8, 1996, in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates to an Eritrean mother and a Polish father. After living in Dubai for three years, her family emigrated to the United States. She lived in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

and

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before her family settled in Dallas, Texas, where she attended a fine arts school. She grew up doing

competition dance Competitive dance is a popular, widespread sport in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as acro, ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, tap, and improv—before ...

. She attended New York University, first majoring in Global Liberal Studies before transferring to the university's

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development The New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (commonly referred to as Steinhardt) is the secondary liberal arts and education school of New York University. It is one of the only schools in the world of i ...

and

Stern School of Business The New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business (commonly referred to as NYU Stern, The Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. I ...

, graduating

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

with a degree in marketing and communications. D'Spain also studied in Paris her freshman year of college.

Career

Prior to becoming a beauty influencer, D'Spain worked for a marketing agency and a beauty editorial. She is signed with Collxab, a New York-based marketing agnecy. She was featured on the cover of ''Galore Magazine'' as "TikTok's It-Girl". She also was featured in '' Nylon''. D'Spain has modelled and been in advertisements for

, UGG, Fenty Beauty, and Google. She was the first black transgender woman to model for Victoria's Secret. Her first online partnership with Victoria's Secret was a TikTok video titled ''Single Girl's Guide to the Perfect Valentine's Day'' as part of their 2022 Valentine's Day campaign. She is known as @XOXOEMIRA on TikTok, where she has over one million followers, and on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, where she has over 100,000 followers. On her TikTok account, D'Spain posts ''Get Ready With Me'' videos, which have received over 85 million views. Prior to the magazine's folding in 2023, she had a

Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before the ...

show called ''Snatchural'' with '' Paper''. She also worked as the Beauty Director at ''Paper'', creating beauty content for their website and social media platforms and curated their YouTube channel.

Personal life

D'Spain changed her given name to "Emira", after the Arabic word "

Amira Amira, Ameerah, or Ameera may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Amira'' (album), by Amira Willighagen, 2014 * ''Amira'' (film), a 2021 Jordanian film People * Amira (name), an Arabic and Hebrew female given name * Amira (singer), American si ...

", meaning "princess". She underwent gender confirmation surgery. She has also had two rhinoplasty procedures. She shared on ''The Conversational Podcast'' that she was sexually assaulted in Paris in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Spain, Emira Living people 1996 births 21st-century Emirati women 21st-century Emirati people American magazine people American people of Polish descent American people of Eritrean descent American TikTokers African-American female models American transgender women Emirati emigrants to the United States Emirati entertainers Emirati expatriates in France Emirati female models Emirati people of Eritrean descent Emirati people of Polish descent Entertainers from Dallas Female models from Texas Emirati LGBT people LGBT Internet celebrities LGBT people from Texas LGBT TikTokers New York University alumni People from the Emirate of Sharjah Social media influencers Transgender female models Transgender in the Middle East Transgender women entertainers Women from Dubai