Transgender model and disavowed daughter of Elon Musk, Vivian Jenna Wilson, is starring in a well-timed campaign for Desigual, the “not the same” Barcelona-based fashion brand.
The campaign’s tagline: “Born to Disobey.”
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It’s a perfect fit for the rebellious twentysomething who came out as trans six years ago and has staked out a role as trailblazing advocate and puckish thorn in the side of her estranged father, whom she’s described as “cruel.” He calls her “dead.”
The fashion campaign plucks a chord on Wilson’s association with the tech billionaire as she battles a robot in the too-brief teaser just released.
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And she looks great doing it.
The release of the provocatively titled ad blitz comes just weeks ahead of this year’s very consequential midterm elections, when the country has a chance to vote out President Donald Trump’s enablers in Congress and signal the beginning of the end of his unchecked power. Musk himself has authorized his political action committee, America PAC, to spend between $100 million and $120 million to support Republican candidates in this year’s elections.
“It was such a great time participating in this campaign,” Wilson told Out about “Born to Disobey.”
“The title is very charming and somewhat of an oxymoron, but systems are not fought with campaigns. They are fought with protests, activists, and societal political movements demanding sweeping changes. The midterms are coming up and we are being employed as the scapegoat to make people forget about the economy, the Iran war, and the Epstein files,” Wilson said of the LGBTQ+ community.
As well as embracing their obligation to vote, LGBTQ+ people need to embrace one another, Wilson said.
“The importance of queer people building community and support networks in this time cannot be understated. With the government attempting to ban gender-affirming care for trans people through an already broken and corrupt healthcare system,” add the repeal of anti-discrimination laws and the demonization of queer people, she said.
“We need to be there for each other right now,” she added.
That includes sharing what’s at stake in the upcoming elections, as the rightwing plays on manufactured fears of the other, be they immigrants or the trans community that Wilson calls chosen family.
“Look forward to conservatives shouting incessantly about us, like kids whose ball went over the fence. Unfortunately, because they are completely incompetent, they have decided to try and distract everyone with how ookity-spookity trans people are,” Wilson said.
While the right is preying on fear, their targets should be anything but scared, Wilson said, noting that disobedience inspires confidence.
“Many of us, including myself, end up having most of our typical teenage experiences in early adulthood,” Wilson said of trans people’s sometimes unique adolescence.
“I think there’s a specific beauty in that. Fashion has helped me figure out who I am and made me more confident in my aesthetic and how I’m facing the world. To be honest, the people I met in fashion have likely had more of an impact on me than fashion itself,” she said.
“You are not alone, Wilson added. “‘Find queer community however you can,’ will always be my advice.”
“Just be careful,” she said of disobedience, adding, “Safety should always be your priority.”
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