Taylor Tookes is not letting anything stand in the way of her dreams. She is changing model stereotypes one runway at a time. Taylor became one of the first petite models to walk in the prestigious New York Fashion Week and is the first petite black model to grace the covers of InStyle Magazine and Grazia Magazine. She is now using her voice to inspire designers to include models of all shapes and sizes in their designs. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Taylor in between fashion shows to get to know a little more about this pint sized powerhouse.
Tell us what you are working on now.
Right now, I’m preparing for my fashion week debut. I’m also preparing for a few upcoming projects for Height Revolution.
As a model, what do you look for in a designer?
I think as of right now, I’m really looking for designers who align with my mission to advocate for genuine inclusivity and diversity. There are a lot of designers popping up that make this their sole mission and it makes me so happy to know there are people out there who are advocating for the same thing as me. It also shows that they understand fashion IS for everyone and there is more to the world than just being tall and skinny. I want to work with designers who design for all!
How did you get started modeling?
I started off as an influencer actually, but I don’t refer to myself as that anymore. During my influencer period, it was kind of forced on my end because I did not know if I should actually call myself a model due to my height, even though that is what I TRULY wanted to do. But I had a thought that was like, “There’s a first time for everything” and that is true – there’s always got to be a first! How else would it be possible for anyone else? So, I went for it and started to build my portfolio. I completely revamped my Instagram page from influencer to model (and you can even go back and look at the transition). But obviously, I wanted to make it known – no, I’m not just a model – I’m a PETITE model. In the fashion industry, they’d tell you to hide your real height and even when I was with an agency in the past, they tried to push the same agenda by making me take my height out of my social media bios AND tried to make me take down my most popular reel with millions of views (which is of me walking NYFW as a short model and ironically… blew up BECAUSE I’m a short girl on the runway..) But I think there is beauty in being short, just as much as there is beauty in being tall and I wanted to inspire other girls to own who they really are and never hide it all for a stereotypical unrealistic standard.
Who has been your favorite designer to work with and why?
House of Arti, which is a luxury brand designed by a petite woman (Arti), FOR petite women 5’3 and below. Arti & I worked together for fashion week in New York back in 2022. I actually had no idea I would be working with a petite brand when I was cast. When I got there, I learned that we had made history as the first petite models to walk in NYFW for the first petite brand to ever showcase, then went on to be featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Marie Claire, Madame Figaro… House of Arti will always have a special place in my heart for that very reason – they’ve been such an important part of my modeling journey and really, walking for that brand was what started it all for me. I will never stop talking about it!
Makeup: The Makeup Academy NYC / Daniela
What has been your favorite memory from all the projects you’ve worked on so far?
Gracing the covers of InStyle and Grazia. I am very honored to become the first short model to ever grace the cover of a high fashion magazine and the first BLACK short model at that. That is very important to note because black models used to be deprived of modeling opportunities for a very long time (though that has significantly changed now and there is no denying that). I am so honored to achieve this… For me, it’s like the tables have turned sort of event and it is definitely an “I told you so” moment to the people who doubted me and told me I’ll never be able to even step foot INSIDE a magazine, yet here I am on the cover… I will only be breaking more barriers from here.
Fun Question– If you had your own clothing line, what would you call it?
I would just turn Height Revolution into its own clothing line!
Any aspirations to design your own line?
If it were to happen, I’d want to definitely collaborate with my business partner, Marissa Rose. She is actually the first 4’11 runway model and one of the girls I made history with in NYFW. We own Height Revolution together. We’ve spoken about making our own line in the future and of course, it would be for the short girls! I feel as if there are very strict limitations in the petite community when it comes to clothes. There is not enough glamor, and I would want to do something unique like design dresses for petite women that have a glam flavor to it. Lots of sequins and elegance. Maybe that isn’t anything new to the designer world, but petites don’t have that at all. So, it’s definitely something unique for the community.
Where can we follow you on social media?
Follow me on Instagram at @taytookes
Makeup: The Makeup Academy NYC / Daniela