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In honor of Pride Month, today we have a fierce interview featuring the talented Dominique Silver, a NYC-based Black transgender model. This fabulous woman has starred in various campaigns such as Calvin Klein's Pride 2022 campaign: This is Love, strutted down the runways of Pyer Moss's Fall 2021 Couture show and Luis De Javier's Fall/Winter 2023 show, and graced the cover of the Richardson Magazine. Recently, Dominique starred in the jaw-dropping Renaissance Couture campaign, a couture collection collaboration between Beyoncé and fashion powerhouse Balmain. What a journey so far.

While modeling takes center stage in Dominique's career, she is not one to be confined by a single spotlight. She has made appearances in television series and films such as Pose, Next in Fashion, and Kokomo City. But Dominique's influence doesn't stop there. She fearlessly takes on the role of an advocate, using her platform to raise awareness for mental health and championing the representation of Black trans women. With a passion that extends beyond the runway, Dominique shows that she is a force to be reckoned with.

Our chat took us on a thrilling adventure, uncovering the intriguing stories of how she stumbled upon this glamorous industry and discovered her true identity along the way. We also dove into the behind-the-scenes action and exhilarating experiences she encountered while shooting for the Renaissance Couture campaign.

Get a peak into Dominique's enthralling world, where passion, self-discovery, and unforgettable moments collide.

I’m delighted to speak with you as well! I am a Black trans woman from San Diego who moved to New York many, many, many moons ago to honestly figure out my identity…to find out who I really was. I needed to move as far away from home as possible so I could have the freedom to become myself. I never really thought about modeling or anything like that when I moved out here. I was having an identity crisis and I needed to figure out who I was in the world. So I moved to New York and was literally a waitress for my first couple years. I came with like $500 and literally a dream.

Growing up I always knew I wanted to help people. Girl, I was talking about I wanted to be a therapist or a social worker. That was my goal. That's what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to help people because I came from a rough background.

I’m a big mental health advocate. Like, I'm very transparent about mental health awareness and therapy and meditation and spirituality because that's honestly what's helped me get so far in my career and keep me balanced with everything that's going on, because you can easily get lost. My goal is to advocate for Black trans woman representation and to occupy spaces where we don't normally. I want to be the example. Honestly, that’s more of my passion. I love modeling but my goal is to use my platform to spread mental health awareness.

Outside of modeling, I act and do activism work. I speak on panels about Black trans rights, I'm a part of membership committees, like Soho House boards and other things like that. Modeling is how I pay most of my bills though!

Modeling came to me pretty much by accident. When I was younger, I didn't have any goals or wishes to be a model, but when I was growing up in high school, people would always tell me, "You should be a model, you should be a model, you should be a model" because I was very tall and very slender. I did idolize models all the time though, like Naomi Campbell, of course, and Tyra Banks, and the very few black models that I had to look up to….but I never saw myself as that. I just wanted to figure out my identity first and feel comfortable in my own skin and then take the journey as it came. 

When I first moved to New York I used to go to this store— Patricia Field's store— all the time during my transition. I would go to buy my makeup and my hair Falls and everything. I would be in there all the time and I was friends with everybody who worked there. This was also the club kid era so there were always nightlife celebrities there. One day, they approached me to do my first show. Keep in mind that at this point, I was struggling. I was a waitress. I was 19 years old living in New York. At this point, I'm taking any jobs that I can get that will help me provide food for myself.

So they asked me to be a model in the show and I'm like, wow, no one's really ever asked me to model in a show before. And they were like, “Well, there's one condition…”, and it was that the show was on an ice skating rink! That didn’t stop me though. I did that fashion show and ended up having a lot of fun. Then I got scouted!

Right? It was crazy. I went into the agency, and they shipped me off to Europe immediately. I didn't know any Italian, but they sent me to Italy haha. So I did that, and then modeling became like a game of Double Dutch. Like I would model, and then I would stop, and then I would model, and then I would stop. 

This was because every time modeled, I never modeled as a trans woman. I always represented myself as female model. I never really disclosed who I was because, of course, the world wasn't ready for this whole movement. So that was why I started and stopped a lot through the years. I felt I couldn’t make more of myself since I was denying who I was. It wasn't a good feeling. 

So almost ten years ago, in 2015, I was living in Spain with my boyfriend at the time, and I saw all my girlfriends on the cover of Candy Magazine. It was about five or six of my closest friends that were celebrities in the nightlife ballroom scene, and they were all on the cover of a magazine as trans!

And I'm like, oh my God, this is the moment right now! Finally I can go back to the States and live my life as I want to and be successful as a model by just being myself. So then I came back and got signed to a transgender modeling agency that I worked with for five years.

Fast forward and I finally ended up with Elite NYC modeling agency which is my home now.

It literally all happened so fast. I was studying for my Integrated Nutrition Health Coach classes and had been up since 5 in the morning. I'm laying on the couch and was about to take a nap. It was 2 PM. 

I received a text from my agent saying “Oh my God, I have this major moment for you." I'm like, okay! And he's like "But stay tuned because if you get booked, you need to go to the airport immediately Hopefully it gets confirmed."  Five minutes later they called me back. It gets confirmed. It happened so quick. I had 30 minutes to pack something and rush to the airport to catch the flight. 

The next day I woke up and I was on set pinching myself because it felt surreal. Was I dreaming? I had to keep everything under wraps for so long because you sign NDAs and everything. 

It sure was! And then one day the campaign just came out! Like, we didn't get any warning or anything. But when I saw the pictures, I was like period!

We shot in Lost Angeles. When I got there, I found out each outfit was portraying a song on the album, and I ended up being SUMMER RENAISSANCE.

So because everything happened so quickly and I didn’t know what song I would be portraying until last minute, I didn’t have much time to engage in any specific rituals to prepare. I just knew I wanted to be the best on set. I actually initially thought I would be Alien Superstar! I was getting my makeup done, and it was really glossy, and they were like, yeah, Alien Superstar. And I'm like, okay, Alien superstar! 

It was all very secretive. But it was Balmain. It was Beyoncé. So it made sense. Olivier Rousteing was there. He was very sweet. Beyoncé was very sweet. I just wanted to do a good job and not end up on the cutting room floor because some people do jobs and you never see it. So when Olivier gave me directions, I just wanted to follow them accordingly. 

One thing I will say is luckily, my workout routine of doing pilates and HIIT training at 6 AM and dieting and everything gave me the strength to even be able to carry the outfit because the cape literally weighed 100 pounds, and I was in seven inch heels! That was the most difficult outfit out of all of them. I had to have two people put the cape on me. One person can’t carry it. So I think they probably saw how in shape I was and assigned me that outfit.

All my working out and dedication to fitness really helped me. I always try to prepared for whatever comes my way.

It was all a well oiled machine. When I first got there, some girls were shooting already and they did their solos. And then we had to do a group shot. By the time it was my turn to do my solo, it was already past lunch, so we were already a little bit pressed for time. They decided we'll do the group shot with Beyoncé and then we'll break off and finish the solos since we were all dressed. 

So I remember I came to set, it was after lunch, and they were starting, like, setting us up for a group shot. At first they announced that Beyoncé was not going to be in the photos, which was saddening. But then when we started, they told us we needed to make space for where Beyoncé is going to be. So I'm freaking out! And then Olivier was like, "Dominique, go like this, give me neck." And I was like, oh my gosh, he said my name, he knows who I am. At first, they placed Beyoncé right next to me. I was fan-girling. I thought about all these things I was going to say to her when I met her, and I couldn't even say it. I was just there with a Koolaid smile on my face haha.

She just looked at me and was smiling and gave me like a little nod. Yeah, she was so sweet. She's said, “Thank you all so much for doing this. You all are so beautiful. You all are so tall.”

The photographer, Louie Banks, was amazing as well. He's an English guy who’s part of the community (LGBTQIA+). He was very nice and very much advocating for us. Marni was our stylist. Beyoncé pretty much had her team with her.  You can tell Louie was heavily invested in making sure we were all comfortable on set and that we were going to be portrayed in a good light. I remember at one point they wanted me to put glasses in the wig and he was like, “No, I don't want that. I need it without the glasses.” And I was like, period! He advocated for the girls, which I loved. I talk to him on Instagram all the time. So sweet.

There were four of us? Okay, yeah, there were four of us, two guys, and six cisgender women. I loved that there was a lot of trans model representation and that they didn’t advertise the campaign as such. They didn’t make it this big thing… it just was.

We were laughing and having fun the whole time! I was there with my girlfriends that I knew from before. I also worked with the hairdresser Jawara before. There were a lot of familiar faces. The nail techs were really sweet. Beyonce's team was really sweet. The only people that were a little mean were her security, which I understand because that's their job, but everybody else was really nice. We had a great time on set. I bonded with the girls. 

One of the girls I did a Purple Magazine shoot with before. Another girl I knew from going out to parties. Once we were all together, we bonded, and we had fun. I had so much fun that day. It was a great day. It was long, but I felt at home and that I belonged there.

Probably when Olivier said my name! But it's between that and Beyoncé coming out and greeting us. But mostly Olivier, when he was like, “Dominique, I want you to go like this.” I was so happy he knew my name because sometimes on set people may not refer to you using your name. But he was really nice, and he was like, “Listen, I know the cape is very heavy. I will do it very quick” with his French accent. I loved it, I was obsessed. Meeting him and Beyoncé was the cherry on top.

For me, I think it was the elaborate work that went into each outfit. I loved the production of everything. Everything was one-of-a-kind, I mean its haute couture! I was just enamored by the intricate design, detailing, and the work that went into each outfit. I loved the silhouettes and how each outfit fit each model perfectly, like it was specifically made for them. I remember when I walked into the fitting and I saw the outfits. I was in awe.

When I finally realized each outfit was meant to portray a song, I really started to get into them. Like it made sense. I wore “SUMMER RENAISSANCE” which is a song meant to pay homage to Donna Summer. The outfit was all glitter and glamour, which was perfect.

I loved all of the outfits, but if I could choose one to wear, I would have chosen the one that Xue wore. The one with the purple corseted bodice that looked like an upside-down bow. It just was so futuristic and very Balmain and very strong! 

When you’re modeling for something so high-profile, everything is very hush-hush. The environment is very controlled. They took our phones away from us when we arrived. We had no access to the outside world. You can literally feel the pressure of the job & how important it is and how much they want to make sure everything come out right and they get the best shots. You can just tell they spent a lot of money on the shoot. 

Whereas some other jobs, people show up late, people are on their phones. It’s very lenient. People come in laughing and joking, which we did during downtime, but when were getting work done, it was serious business.

Honestly, yes. Because they treat you nicely, & it's more personable. You can tell it's high-quality and there’s a lot of pressure. But I work well under pressure.  I can deliver under pressure.  I also like big jobs like this because I know it's going to make an impact and change my career for the better. 

I would say envelop yourself in your craft. You have to live & breathe the lifestyle to become that version of yourself that you’re striving to be. Before I became who I am now, all my friends were supermodels, and I was like, okay, this is what I want to be. This is where I want to be. So I surrounded myself with those types of people and really focused on perfecting my craft.

Also, stay determined and be transparent. One thing that’s worked for me and that's working for a lot of models nowadays is we're not this cookie-cutter prototype. We have our individual experiences and we express that through our work. So be transparent and stay true to yourself.

Lastly, don't let anybody tell you no. If they tell you no, just brush that off and keep on going. If it's meant to be, it’ll be!

Since I've been in the industry for so long, I'm leaning towards starting my own agency and signing models that are misrepresented so I can give them a platform and the right contacts to be able to shine as I have. I can also use my expertise and experience to help the girls learn how to be more comfortable on camera and find their own sense of style. 

Honestly, I just want to give back. I want to use the platform that I'm building to give back because that's what helps me sleep at night, you know what I mean? To feel like I gave something back to the community that gave so much to me. 

For sure it does! I just want to make sure everything I do serves a bigger purpose. I want to be the best version of myself that I can be.

To everyone out there, my goal is to be a good representation and a leader for marginalized communities and leave my mark on this earth as a person who gave back and did what I could while I could. Everything I’ve been doing is great, don't get me wrong. I'm very appreciative and happy to be here where I'm at, but it doesn't mean anything if I can't open the door for someone else. A lot of people like to eat at a table by themselves. I don't, personally. I want to have other people eat at the table with me.

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