Beyonce Knowles has chosen Laverne Cox as the face of her Athleisure Ivy Park AW 2017 fashion campaign. The 46-year-old female impersonator announced his dream job on Wednesday.
The Orange is the New Black star said the fashion campaign was shot over the summer, and launched on Wednesday, Sept. 6.
“To be honest, it doesn’t feel real,” Cox tells PeopleStyle. “It feels like some weird fantasy that I’ve had since Destiny’s Child. It feels amazing that I get to be a part of this brand that has already inspired me and be working with a woman who has been a huge inspiration to me and so many folks around the world.”
In a statement, the “Halo” singer revealed the new fashion campaign celebrates “everyone’s uniqueness”.
“True beauty and power are born out of strength of character and defined from the inside out,” the statement reads. “There is no one standard of beauty.”
“It’s about tapping into your inner hero,” the transgender star born Roderick Leverne Cox adds. “Beyonce is someone who has pushed herself beyond what even she thought she could do. It’s a sense of becoming a superwoman, and really pushing yourself beyond all measure.”
Cox was unable to work with the singer because she had just welcomed twins Rumi and Sir in June when the campaign was shot.
“Her team is incredible and there is so much love and respect for her vision and what she wants,” Cox explains. “Obviously she approves everything. It’s just wild to have Beyonce looking at the proofs from your photo shoot!”
While Cox celebrated online, biological women expressed disappointment in Beyonce for contributing to the erasure of women from the media and cultural space.
Others complained about Cox’s overtly sexualized poses in the campaign.
One Twitter.com user wrote: “Satan is the great deceiver who can alter his appearance to manipulate others!”
Another added: “Has anybody ever thought of Transgender being disease of the mind.
“God made you perfect when he created you in your mothers womb. You didn’t have to change a thing about yourself.”
Honestly though I had higher expectations for this Laverne Cox and Beyoncé collab, like Ivy park is cute and all but…
— ??Sa?m?? (@sumayahamani) September 7, 2017
Photo by Emma McIntyre / Getty Images
