Vivian Wilson is stepping into her own spotlight at New York Fashion Week, turning heads with both her runway presence and outspoken voice. The 21-year-old daughter of Elon Musk used the stage to blend fashion with politics.
Fashion debut with a message
Wilson, who came out as transgender in 2020, walked in four shows during this season of New York Fashion Week. One of them opened with a piercing shriek in a piece covered in beetle pins, setting the tone for a lineup that challenged fashion norms.
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In Alexis Bittar’s Miss USA 1991: A Dream Sequence, models wore pageant sashes representing states currently targeting transgender rights. Wilson walked as Miss North Carolina in a shimmering red gown.
At the end of July, North Carolina House Republicans and one Democrat overrode Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of a bill which adds major restrictions on trans rights.
“I do love it when shows are inherently political; I think it’s a really powerful statement,” Wilson told NBC News.
Known for more than her parents
Wilson has long been outspoken online, not just about her identity but also about her fractured relationship with Musk. In a March Teen Vogue interview, she called him a “pathetic man child” and rejected being associated with him.
“Why would I feel scared of him?” she asked. “Ohhh, he has so much power. Nah, nah, nah. I don’t give a f—k. Why should I be scared of this man? Because he’s rich? Oh, no, I’m trembling.”
Just five days after that interview, Musk posted on X that his son, Xavier, is “dead” and had been “killed by the woke mind virus.”
Rejecting a convenient narrative
Much of the public commentary around Musk’s politics has suggested that Wilson’s transition pushed him further to the right.
“It’s such a convenient narrative, that the reason he turned right is because I’m a f—ing tranny, and that’s just not the case,” she told Teen Vogue. “That’s not what that does to people. Him going further on the right, and I’m going to use the word ‘further’—make sure you put ‘further’ in there—is not because of me.”
