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Amanda Lepore

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Amanda Lepore
Amanda Lepore from an August 2008 photoshoot for Playboy magazine.
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Nightlife hostess, model, entertainer
Known forMuse of photographer David LaChapelle

Amanda Lepore (born Armand[1]) is an American model, nightclub hostess, fashion icon, performance artist, and transgender icon. She has appeared in advertising for numerous companies, including M.A.C. cosmetics, Mego Jeans, The Blonds, Swatch, CAMP Cosmetics, and Heatherette, which has used her likeness on clothing as well as hiring her as a model. Lepore is also noted as a regular subject in photographer David LaChapelle's work. She participated in his Artists and Prostitutes 1985-2005 exhibit in New York, where she "lived" in a voyeuristic life-sized set.[2][3]

Early life

Amanda Lepore

According to Michael Musto, Lepore grew up in the Essex County community of Cedar Grove, New Jersey.[4][5] Lepore told a reporter "from day one she knew she was a girl," and in her teens she began making costumes for a go-go dancer in exchange for hormones.[1] She says her parents soon took her from public school and hired a private tutor, then took her to a psychologist who helped her get a hormone prescription.[6] Lepore says she then got married and moved in with her in-laws, who assisted her with getting sex reassignment surgery.[6] She says she left the marriage after several years and moved to New York City, where she worked in a nail salon and as a dominatrix before meeting Michael Alig and becoming a fixture on the New York nightlife scene.[6] She soon met David LaChapelle and began collaborating with him.[6]

Modeling and acting

Lepore has appeared in fashion magazines, including French Playboy, Ponytail, DAMn and TUSH. She is on the cover of Lords of Acid's 1999 album Expand Your Head and on Thighpaulsandra' 2006 album The Lepore Extrusion.

Lepore had a cameo in the 1998 documentary Party Monster: The Shockumentary as well as the 2003 film Party Monster. She was also featured in Another Gay Sequel in 2008. Lepore has also had cameos in music videos for artists including Elton John, Thalía, The Dandy Warhols, Girl in a Coma,[7] Grace Jones, and TIGA for his cover of "Sunglasses at Night."[8] Lepore appears in many of Cazwell music videos, including "Watch my Mouth"[9] and "All Over Your Face".[10]

She was Chief of Parade at the 2010 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.[1]

Modeling: Amanda Lepore is 5'2, with measurements of 39-23-37, and weighs roughly 110 lbs. People are often shocked by her petite size upon meeting her in person.

Music

Her first single, "Deeper," is a 2003 trance dance song written by Wigstock drag queen Lady Bunny.[11]

In 2005 Lepore released her first album, Introducing... Amanda Lepore, which contains "Champagne" and "My Hair Looks Fierce". In 2007 she released two remix albums, Fierce Pussy and My Pussy E.P. Lepore also sings the main title for Another Gay Movie, "I Know What Boys Like". She also performs "Cotton Candy", from the soundtrack of Another Gay Sequel.[12]

Lepore was a part of True Colors Tour 2007, a 15-city North American benefit tour sponsored by the Logo channel, hosted by comedian Margaret Cho and headlined by Cyndi Lauper.[13] The tour benefited the Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG and the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and it included Erasure, Debbie Harry, The Gossip, Rufus Wainwright, The Dresden Dolls, The MisShapes, Rosie O'Donnell, Indigo Girls, The Cliks and other special guests. In 2009, Lepore performed at the Majestic Theatre during Metro Pride Fest in Detroit with The Divas of the Majestic: A Divine Lites Productions.[14]

Her second album I...Amanda Lepore was released in 2011.[15]

Merchandise

In October 1999 Swatch released "Time Tranny", a watch designed by LaChapelle with Lepore on the face displaying a printed crack on the glass and marble stripes as the background. A second version displays no cracked glass and a blue and yellow striped background.[16] In April 2006, Integrity Toys launched an Amanda Lepore doll produced by Jason Wu as a benefit for AIDS charities.[17] Lepore has a line of cosmetics in partnership with CAMP Cosmetics called "Collection Lepore", as well as a signature perfume.[18]

Sophia Lamar and Lepore both filed wrongful-termination suits against the nightclub Twilo Miami after being fired and replaced by perceived cisgender (non-transgender) women. New York Supreme Court granted Lamar and Lepore a default judgment.[19]

Discography

Studio albums
Year Album
2011 I...Amanda Lepore
EPs
Year Album
2005 Introducing... Amanda Lepore
2007 My Pussy
2008 Fierce Pussy (The Remix Album)
2010 Cazwell and Amanda
Singles
Year Title Album
2006 "I Know What Boys Like" Another Gay Movie Soundtrack
2009 "Cotton Candy"
—
2009 "My Hair Looks Fierce"
—
Music videos
Year Title Director
2009 "Cotton Candy"[20] Bec Stupak
2010 "Marilyn"[21] Leo Herrera

2011 - Turn Me Over

2011 - Get Into It Cazwell feat Amanda Lepore

References

  1. ^ a b c Olding, Rachel (February 27, 2010). Fantastic plastic. Sydney Morning Herald
  2. ^ LaChapelle, David, (2005). Artists And Prostitutes Taschen America Llc, ISBN 9783822816172
  3. ^ Williford, Daniel (2009). Queer Aesthetics. Borderlands, Vol. 8. No. 2.
  4. ^ Peden, Lauren David. "Shopping with...Amanda Lepore", Dominican Today, September 28, 2005. Accessed July 6, 2011. "But that's what makes Amanda (nee Armand) Lepore from Cedar Grove, New Jersey so great. The boy who grew up to be a Vargas pinup girl may be all manufactured artifice on the outside - huge blond hair, huge red lips, huge gravity-defying boobs."
  5. ^ Musto, Michael (March 11, 2008). Christian From Project Runway Has a Boyfriend! Village Voice
  6. ^ a b c d Amanda's Story on amandaleporeonline.com via Internet Archive
  7. ^ Road to Home (music video) on YouTube
  8. ^ Sunglasses at Night (music video) on YouTube
  9. ^ Watch my Mouth (music video) on YouTube
  10. ^ All Over Your Face (music video) on YouTube
  11. ^ Page Six (July 10, 2003). How Lopez lost Vogue cover. New York Post
  12. ^ Monroe, Kennidi (December 22, 2008). Interview: Season Finale, with Amanda Lepore. TrannyTalk 101
  13. ^ Chinen, Nate (June 20, 2007). Power to the People (and Some Pop Too). New York Times
  14. ^ Staff report (July 16, 2009). Electra Lites to leave Detroit. PrideSource
  15. ^ Visco, Gerry (June 29, 2011). Bash Compactor: Golden Girl. New York Press
  16. ^ Clark, Hazel; Brody, David (2009). Design Studies: A Reader, p. 493. Berg, ISBN 9781847882363
  17. ^ Lopez, Vincent (May 9, 2006). Toys, p. 64. The Advocate
  18. ^ Iannacci, Elio (March 17, 2011). The new transsexual chic. Macleans
  19. ^ Gregorian, Dareh (May 30, 2003). Axed "ex men" win go-go suit. New York Post
  20. ^ "Cotton Candy" (music video) on YouTube
  21. ^ "Marilyn" (music video) on YouTube

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