Andre J.

Born Andre Johnson in Newark, New Jersey, Andre J. was raised by a single mother in a housing project called Academy Spires[1]

For several years in the early 2000s, they lived in Los Angeles, California.[1][4] During those years, they worked at a boutique on Melrose Avenue and made three brief appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno segments "devoted to human curiosities".[1] They typically wore a fur hat, a hole-covered beige fishnet shirt, and jeans so low that they revealed their pubic hair, though they changed before leaving for fear of being mistaken for a transgender prostitute on their way home to the $60-a-night Sunset Strip hotel in which they lived.[1]

Andre J. later moved to New York City "for the liberation, the freedom, the action" and worked variously as a perfume salesperson at Lord & Taylor, as a publicist for Patricia Field's boutique, and as a party host for the clubs Lotus and Hiro.[1] While on the street one day in summer 2007, they were spotted by stylist Joe McKenna, who was then on the phone with fashion photographer Bruce Weber.[1] With McKenna's encouragement, Weber decided to shoot Andre J. for French Vogue, and Carine Roitfeld, the magazine's editor, deemed Andre J.'s photos the freshest of all Weber's images.[1] Roitfeld put a photo of the bearded Andre J., dressed in a women’s blue neoprene Burberry trench coat, ankle boots, and a cocktail ring, on the cover of her magazine.[1][2] "There is not a special message in the cover, I just loved it," she said later.[1] Andre at one point had a day time job at a boutique in Melroe and is known for their intricate style that people see as creative and unique.[5]

Though Andre J. often wears feminine clothing, they do not consider themself a crossdresser.[1] Rather, they see themself as unconfined by gender and social conventions.[1] "Most people are conditioned to think of a black man looking a certain way," they told The New York Times. "They only think of the ethnic man in XXX jeans and Timberlands, and here Andre J. comes along with a pair of hot shorts and a caftan or maybe flip-flops or cowboy boots or a high, high heel."[1] Most recently, Andre J.'s style inspirations have included Cher and model Donyale Luna.[1] They describe their aesthetic as a "60s, not mod, but mod-ish, and hippie look" that is also influenced by the style of 1970s blaxploitation films.[1]

Called a "cheerful muse" by New York Magazine,[4] Andre J. says their positive outlook on life has influenced their style: "I want people to look at me and feel inspired, to feel hope, to smile. I want to surge positive energy in your body, confirm that you too can be yourself."[1] They said they have been affirmed by strangers telling them that they were glad they are alive, and believe that they were put on the earth "to be a bodhisattva, to just glow, emanate love, respect, peace, pizzazz".[4]

• Special feature on the French Vogue photoshoot. Click the white arrows to scroll through the photos.
• Video of Andre J.