PHOSPHENES

With rooms in the industry that still exclude black and brown trans womxn, model-turned-DJ Memphis Murphy is ready to swing the doors open.

dress BEN TAVERNITI UNRAVEL PROJECT. earrings JENNIFER FISHER. necklace (throughout) Memphis’s own.

For as long as models have garnered recognition in mainstream culture, there have been two types: those who wear the clothes, and those who let the clothes wear them. For the former, take Naomi Campbell, whose emboldened personality defines the campaigns she graces. For the latter, take Linda Evangelista; the chameleon seamlessly transforms into any and every look. To find a model who does it all — one who knows when to blend in, stand out, and wake up in time for crack-of-dawn call times — is a rarity.

And while modeling industry heavyweights normally make their names via social media clout and buzzy endorsements, talent can’t be mistaken. Take 18-year-old Memphis Murphy, who debuted in camo pants and colorful braids on the cover of National Geographic’s Gender issue. The Harlem native, who looks just as comfortable in street clothes as she does in her work with Gucci and Calvin Klein, already has a portfolio as mutli-faceted as her personality. Her face garners its fair share of comparisons (“People tell me Jorja Smith, people tell me Banks,” she says), but it’s her unmistakable exuberance that makes her so memorable.

Between Juul puffs and clicks of her neon tongue piercing, Murphy exudes confidence, jumping in and out of looks while rapping along to Nicki Minaj. It’s no wonder that she credits her interest in modeling to another shape-shifter and unmistakable culture changer: Grace Jones. “My mom’s best friend has a photo of [her]. She’s posing with her leg up, and it’s a really beautiful picture,” she says. “That has always inspired me to model because of seeing the black femme represented in an avant-garde way was really iconic, and also being a black trans womxn, it would be iconic to do something like that.”

top and skirt PRISCAVERA. earrings JENNIFER FISHER.

Identifying as trans is just one side of Murphy’s identity. At a time when government protections of trans rights are being gutted, and trans people of color are still disproportionately affected by ant-LGBT hate crimes, Murphy says her modeling career is not without its obstacles. “I would like to just be seen as a model who happens to be trans, and an activist, and all these other things. But a model first,” she notes. “Being branded as trans can also be dangerous because everyone knows you’re a T. [But] without mainstream representation, how would we succeed within the fashion industry? Representation helps us get paid, which is really important.”

Murphy’s understanding of the trans experience adds another layer of activism to her work, based on the premise that outwardly expressing her identity is intrinsically radical. “Another thing to understand is that putting trans people in these spaces helps them live day- to-day, because at the end of the day, if you make trans people more mainstream, trans women will literally be safer walking down the street,” she explains, “because people will have seen that, or people will know that it exists, or that it’s okay to be that, and that there are people who are successful who are that.”

In a way, Murphy says that the best mentor and advocate throughout her career journey has been herself. Nobody knows her lived experiences being trans as well as she does, after all. “I feel like the only person who can really help me would be another black trans woman in the modeling industry, so, myself,” she says, “mustering up the strength and fighting for what I deserve.”

jacket and skirt LRS. earrings JENNIFER FISHER. socks and shoes Memphis’s own.

Even though it’s been a fight, she’s never felt unlucky. Murphy recognizes a few points of privilege: being lightskinned, having a white mother who has always supported her and served as her sartorial inspiration. “She loves a necktie, button-down, she loves a good embellished purse, she loves a good Chanel boot,” she says. “But she gives Joanne the Scammer vibes. She’s sharp in a very French way, but she’s very New York.” The two even posed alongside each other in a project with Gucci for Refinery29 earlier this year.

Although she’s not without her privileges, Murphy’s main focus is paving the way for more trans people of color in the spaces she inhabits. “There are a lot of black trans faces that are too afraid to be put in the spotlight because people have taught them that they have to be afraid to, or that they don’t deserve it,” she says. “Me being that helps open up other doors, which is really the main reason why I’m doing it: to create more space for people like me, and for opening the doors to rooms that people like me haven’t been in yet.”

dress PH5. earrings JENNIFER FISHER. socks and shoes Memphis’s own.