While most Americans anticipated the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, fashion and beauty gurus at New York Fashion Week anticipated the arrival of five major names in the industry.  

Members of the general public lined up outside the NYFW Backstage pop-up in SoHo hoping to secure a seat at the “Beauty is Identity” talk. The talk was hosted by NYFW: The Talks in collaboration with the Ali Forney Center, a shelter that protects LGBTQ+ youth in New York City from homelessness. 

Those granted access had the opportunity to learn from Alex Consani, Connie Fleming, Dev Doee, Richie Shazam and Daniel Martin on how they found their identity through beauty as members of the LGBTQ+ community.  

“Beauty has always kind of been a way to express myself,” said Consani, a transgender model. “I think that beauty is obviously individual for every person and I think that for me, gender euphoria has always come from taking time to make me feel beautiful.” 

From a young age, Consani has found herself through beauty. She believes that beauty and expression go hand in hand and that one cannot exist without the other.  

Through discussing beauty and identity, the five panelists also stressed the importance of sticking together through difficult times. Since the beginning of 2025, many anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been proposed. While most of these bills will not pass, the initiation of them has caused harm to the community. 

“I think it’s really important right now just to band together but also to know our community is not going anywhere,” said Consani. She urges her community to keep moving forward and to love and support one another. 

Consani and Martin made it clear during the talk that no matter how hard anti-LGBTQ+ groups fight against their community, they will continue to fight back. 

“We need to be louder. We need to be stronger. We need to have each other’s back,” said Martin, a celebrity makeup artist. 

At the end of the panel, my peers and I had the opportunity to talk to Alex Consani. We told her about the recent changes in diversity, equity and inclusion at Kent State University. 

As of January 2025, public colleges in Ohio have started cutting back on D.E.I. programs even before state lawmakers have pushed to ban them. 

While Kent State has not gotten rid of its D.E.I. program completely, it merged the program with its Office of Human Resources. The new program is now called The Division of People Culture and Belonging.  

Consani told us that it is not just schools that have begun cutting back on D.E.I. funding. She said the recent changes in legislation have impacted her ability to walk in shows as a transgender model. 

Simply because she is transgender, Consani may not have the same opportunities to model as her cisgender colleagues. 

Despite her newfound fear, Consani is going to continue to find strength in her identity as a transgender woman. After all, her identity is what makes her beautiful.  

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Hi! I’m Kayla Friedman, A Magazine’s editor-in-chief. My staff and I are committed to bringing you the most important and entertaining news from the realms of fashion, beauty and culture. We are full-time students and hard-working journalists. While we get support from the student media fee and earned revenue such as advertising, both of those continue to decline. Your generous gift of any amount will help enhance our student experience as we grow into working professionals. Please go here to donate to A Magazine.