Indira Scott

Ask Queens native Indira Scott about one of her proudest runway moments and she’ll point to being the first black woman to close out Dior Couture Fall 2018 while wearing box braids. “I can’t express how surreal the feeling was to hear my wooden beads dancing across each other as I strutted down that runway,” she recalls of her second time walking for the brand. “The sensation of them draping down my back and that beautiful pink, silk gown. It will forever be a dream come true for me.” As the politics of black hair and what is and isn’t excepted evolves, the runway milestone speaks volumes about the type of person Scott is — deeply attuned to the importance of taking up space unapologetically. Discovered while working retail and previously bullied in school for her trademark adorned braids, Scott now saunters down runways in braids, cornrows, and her afro for the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier, Oscar de la Renta, Moschino, and Prabal Gurung.

Since the fall 2018 season, Scott has ascended from her initial selection as a Models.com Top Newcomer for the S/S 2019 season to working with some of the biggest names in the business. Her bohemian disposition has been seen through the lens of Paolo Roversi, Jackie Nickerson, and Nadine Ijewere for Vogue while landing lucrative commercial contracts from Mango, Coach, and Ralph Lauren. Her first show season in New York and Paris was a shocking revelation at the intensity of the modeling world, seeing how battered models’ feet were as if they just went through battle. “I remember going into things thinking that everything about the job was glitz and glam,” she says. “Behind the scenes, it’s the Olympics the way everyone’s constantly patching themselves up.” Add in a lack of black peers on set and you have an environment that can be very hostile for black women to navigate, and one that Scott is actively trying to influence as she pushes for diversity on fashion sets.

Citing her enormous privilege, Scott has used her social media platform to speak on important causes like the Black Lives Matter movement, climate change, and LGBTQIA+ rights. “Speaking up is an act of humanity, to be silent is to be in approval of the injustice, as well as an enabler,” she says. “My parents just made sure they were raising someone who acts on injustice.” For her fall 2020 i-D Magazine cover, Scott’s beaded waist-length braids were on full display, further pushing Scott’s purpose of defying the status quo of beauty standards.

“Never change who you are because of judgment from others,” Scott leaves as advice to others looking to follow in her footsteps. In an industry that often pushes for conformity, the self-assured New Yorker carved out a lane for herself built on acceptance and cultural revolution. As a resolute environmentalist and spiritualist, Scott has a long list of creative dreams for the next stage of her career, whenever that might come. Writing her own films someday, or maybe starring in others. Creating a magazine or agency. Designing a fashion line or making an EP. “In true Gemini fashion, I’ve been in love with the arts since I could remember and I can’t imagine living a life where I’m not creating something.”