Joseph (Jojo) Harwood (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Lawrence; born May 3, 1990) is a British model, artist and social media personality, best known for being the first ever transgender person to win a reality based talent competition,

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

’s the You Generation Competition.

Early life

Harwood was born and raised in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. Harwood was part of an early start school scheme, studying and completing GCSE exams at the age of 10 years old. Harwood went on to study an MSc in Cosmetic Science at

London College of Fashion The London College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, in London, England. It offers undergraduate, postgraduate, short courses, study abroad courses and business-training in fashion, make-up, beauty-therap ...

focusing on Cosmetic Science.

Modelling

Harwood was scouted as a model at the age of 14 when an editor from Dazed and Confused magazine discovered them on MySpace. Harwood walked in

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...

for the first time at age 15 in androgynous guise.

Social Media

Jojo developed a series of celebrity illusions, gender focused tutorials and makeup how-to videos in 2013. In 2013 Simon Cowell created the first incarnation of Got Talent on digital media,

’s the You Generation Competition. Harwood entered with a gender orientated piece and was chosen as the winner of the makeup category by bloggers Pixiwoo, which led to the announcement of a grand prize of $75,000 being awarded.

Syco Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment company, headquartered in London, founded and owned by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. The company focuses on TV production. The company was formed in 2005 through So ...

did not formally announce Harwood as the winner outside of an announcement on Twitter, and this was covered in

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...

in 2018. Harwood was the first transgender person to win a reality based talent show, and was the first trans person to create premium beauty collaborations with multiple brands, Vice referring to Jojo as the ‘Yoda of Contemporary Drag.’ Harwood has established over 100m views on tutorial content across YouTube.

Makeup Artistry

Jojo’s distinct

makeup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

style attracted many celebrities and

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

reality stars, who invited Harwood to guide them through makeup, this led to multiple covers, editorials and magazine features. Jojo was featured in Now Magazine in 2013 as the ‘Queen of Transformations.’ In 2018 Jojo co-designed the product line Jecca Blac, under L’Oreal Innovations which was a trans led, trans orientated makeup line announced on

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

. This was met with critical acclaim, leading to Harwood being invited to contribute to the DEI guidelines with brands

PUIG Puig () is a word of Catalan origin, meaning "hill". Hence, in Catalan-speaking areas, it appears in the names of numerous people and geographical features: Geographical features * Puig-l'agulla, a mountain of Catalonia * Puig de l'Àliga (Sant ...

, and to open Estee Lauders inclusivity ERG with the VP’s of each brand. Harwood is frequently asked to consult on inclusivity in beauty, being interviewed for BBC, Vogue and Elle. Harwood was invited to be a member of the British Beauty Council in 2022, and sits on the DEI board of advisors. Harwood was invited to be an advisory board member on AI Tech Company Revieve

Activism

Harwood is a Princes Trust ambassador, has been featured in

Veganuary Veganuary is an annual challenge run by a UK nonprofit organisation that promotes and educates about veganism by encouraging people to follow a vegan lifestyle for the month of January. Since the event began in 2014, participation has increased ...

2021 and has created campaigns for the UN, YouTube x Little by Little, focusing on ocean pollution as a result of the cosmetics industry, which won an award. Harwood was featured on Pride Life Global as one of the leading LGBT voices of our generation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harwood, Joseph 1991 births Living people British models Artists from Brighton Transgender artists