Connie Fleming

Connie Fleming, also known as Connie Girl, is a Jamaican-born American supermodel and former drag performer. She became prominent in New York City in the 80s and 90s, first as a drag performer part of the "Boy Bar Beauties", and then as a fashion model and muse for the likes of Vivienne Westwood and Thierry Mugler. She is a transgender woman, and transphobia within the fashion industry halted her modeling career. She has subsequently been named an "it girl" and a pioneer of transgender models.

Early life Fleming was born in Jamaica. She and her mother moved to Flatbush in New York City, US, when she was five years old to pursue a better education and to leave her alcoholic father. During her school years, Fleming began openly identifying as a trans girl. She was bullied while at school and faced physical and sexual violence. At the same time, her relationship with her mother became strained. She graduated high school in 1984. In 1984, while working at a boutique, Fleming met David Glamamore, a drag queen, and Matthew Kasten. She was also a doorperson at clubs, referring to herself as "the door bitch from hell", and was known for her "evil door bitch" persona. She was the muse of Mugler and Westwood, and as the trend of drag grew less popular.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fleming drew art. Some of her work was displayed in Never Apart's art gallery in 2021. She works as a doorperson at Le Bain as of 2020. In 2023, Fleming made her comeback to modeling by walking the runway at Casey Cadwallader's SS24 show for Mugler. Laverne Cox praised the "historic" return. and The New York Times. She is also considered a transgender icon.

Fleming's look at Mugler's Spring/Summer 1992 show, a rhinestone corset with a ten-gallon hat, was named one of the most iconic catwalk images by British Vogue. Fleming's appearance on major runways as an openly transgender woman was a rarity in its time. Though she and her mother had a strained relationship when she was a teenager, they eventually reconciled. Fleming got breast implants in 2000, and was diagnosed with BIA-ALCL lymphoma, a rare form of cancer, as a result. She was declared cancer-free in July 2019.