--- title: Model Nathan Westling Comes Out as Trans description: Model Nathan Westling, known for his work for high-fashion brands like Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs, has come out as a trans man. canonical: https://time.com/5555051/model-nathan-westling-comes-out/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-20T17:38:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:10.033Z og:title: Model Nathan Westling Comes Out as Transgender og:description: "I'm not trying to be something I'm not anymore" og:url: https://time.com/5555051/model-nathan-westling-comes-out/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95d6a0ab54bfb729/698946f522fb85860de27f66/nathan-westling-comes-out-transgender-model.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Nathan-Westling-comes-out-transgender-model og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Model Nathan Westling Comes Out as Transgender twitter:description: "I'm not trying to be something I'm not anymore" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95d6a0ab54bfb729/698946f522fb85860de27f66/nathan-westling-comes-out-transgender-model.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Model Nathan Westling Comes Out as Transgender > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: Laverne Cox Will Show You the Long, Intense Fight for Transgender Rights [Watch (HLS stream): Laverne Cox Will Show You the Long, Intense Fight for Transgender Rights](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tfCdqzk6.m3u8) (3:57)  _Published 2017-08-09. Narrated by Laverne Cox and illustrated by Molly Crabapple_  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Mar 20, 2019 5:38 PM UTC  Photo by Collier Schorr  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Mar 20, 2019 5:38 PM UTC Model Nathan Westling has come out as a [trans man](http://time.com/transgender-men-sexism/). Westling, a fashion industry favorite known for working with luxury labels like Louis Vuitton, Prada, Saint Laurent, and Marc Jacobs, opened up about his decision to transition in an interview with [_CNN Style_ ](https://www.cnn.com/style/article/nathan-westling-transgender-model/index.html)on Tuesday. “It feels like I’ve been wearing like a mask my whole life,” Westling said. “Once I removed that mask, it was like I was finally… I don’t know. I’m not wearing a skin that I don’t feel I am anymore. I’m not playing a persona; I’m not trying to be something I’m not anymore. I don’t feel like I’m stuck in this weird moment of having to be in-between.” Westling shared that he’s been taking testosterone for six months and has plans to get top surgery to reconstruct his chest. He also talked about how his experience modeling helped him consider his trans identity. “Working as a model, you know, a lot of people ask, ‘Did that screw with you? Did that hurt you?'” he said. “(Modeling) was cool to me because I’ve always been playing a character, a persona, my whole life. So to be able to be put in all this different hair and makeup, I was able to discover myself as well, and see myself as so many different things; to really know that this is who I should be and the path I should take.” Westling, who made his debut as a model in 2013 on the Marc Jacobs runway, says that he’s received support from the designers he’s worked closely with in the past and has a magazine cover shoot in the works; however, he’s taking things one day at time when it comes to thinking about the future of his career. “I’m not worried about it,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a good change and I’m excited for it. I’m really, really excited.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5555051/model-nathan-westling-comes-out/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5555051/model-nathan-westling-comes-out/"},"headline":"Model Nathan Westling Comes Out as Transgender","datePublished":"2019-03-20T17:38:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:10.033Z","description":"\"I'm not trying to be something I'm not anymore\"","url":"https://time.com/5555051/model-nathan-westling-comes-out/","keywords":["Newsfeed","fashion","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95d6a0ab54bfb729/698946f522fb85860de27f66/nathan-westling-comes-out-transgender-model.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95d6a0ab54bfb729/698946f522fb85860de27f66/nathan-westling-comes-out-transgender-model.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nathan-Westling-comes-out-transgender-model","caption":"","creditText":"Photo by Collier Schorr","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5555051/model-nathan-westling-comes-out/","name":"Model Nathan Westling Comes Out as Transgender"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Laverne Cox Will Show You the Long, Intense Fight for Transgender Rights","description":"Narrated by Laverne Cox and illustrated by Molly Crabapple","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/tfCdqzk6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-08-09T22:17:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tfCdqzk6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5555051/model-nathan-westling-comes-out/","duration":"PT3M57S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5555051/model-nathan-westling-comes-out/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```