Alex Consani on TikTok, Trade, and Terrorizing the Subway

Our new favorite model tells our editor-in-chief how she vapes, dances, and stays “confident and cuntfident” for the dolls on a daily basis.

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THURSDAY 4:30 PM AUG. 31 , 2023 NYC

MEL OTTENBERG: What was your first runway show in New York?

ALEX CONSANI: It was Tom Ford in 2021. I just remember being so gagged because I started working in fashion when I was 13. I did a lot of work back in San Francisco, a lot of bridal shit, and then I went to New York and it basically picked up from there.

OTTENBERG: When did you start your TikTok obsession?

CONSANI: When I was a senior in high school. It was COVID, and everyone was bored as fuck. I was a Finsta girl growing up. I would post a lot of comedy shit on my private Instagram.

OTTENBERG: And now you’re terrorizing the subway, which is great. Hands on the knees.

CONSANI: Angelina Jolie.

OTTENBERG: [Laughs]

CONSANI: I love it, girl. I think people just see it, and they’re like, “I wish I was her.” But they don’t see what happens after that 10, 15-second video. Trust me, I’m running. She is so confident and cuntfident, but diva, she’s out.

OTTENBERG: [Laughs] Did you say she’s confident and cuntfident?

CONSANI: Yes, diva. She’s both, but at the same time she’s out.

OTTENBERG: Exactly.

CONSANI: People on TikTok watch the things that they want to be. I’m a very social person, but I definitely heighten it because I’m like, “The girls will watch what they want to be giving,” which is a crazy bitch, I guess.

OTTENBERG: [Laughs] Are you on TikTok all the time? Is your screen time horrific? Mutilation of the brain?

CONSANI: I’m trying to get off it a little bit just because it’s too much. There’s some crazy-ass fucking shit on TikTok. I’m not on Twitter for that same reason. I don’t need to see a cock right when I open my phone. But it’s too addicting, diva.

OTTENBERG: Well, I erase Grindr and Instagram and TikTok all the time because I’m like, “I ain’t got time for this today.”

CONSANI: I feel that. Also, I don’t know what’s happening here, but I have a little injury of some sort. I think it’s a carpal tunnel from going on Tinder. Do you see that? It’s like purple right in between my thumb and my pointer finger. It feels like a broken bone.

OTTENBERG : Let’s make this belt tight.

CONSANI: I want rib removal allegations.

OTTENBERG: [Laughs] What’s your official waist size?

CONSANI: She’s like a 24, 25, maybe. But I was born a male, so the rib cage isn’t giving 24, but that’s fine.

OTTENBERG: She’s definitely giving samples.

CONSANI: The girls make sure that I feel like it’s not. They’re always like, “Oh, we didn’t think this would fit, but it looks like it does.” I’m like, “I’m going to make it work even if it doesn’t fit me, diva. Pin it down.”

OTTENBERG: Hold on. Lucas. I love it, but I just think it needs the headscarf.

LUCAS WILSON: Okay.

OTTENBERG: You know what would be cool is the Marc Jacobs bra over this. Let’s try it on.

WILSON: It’s right here.

CONSANI: I love a cute panty. I’m waiting for fashion to catch up on trans-accessible underwear.

OTTENBERG: I don’t know what you’re talking about. Would you please educate me for the people?

CONSANI: Exactly, that’s the gag. So basically, it’s underwear that has a tight waistband that has some sort of structure in between—

OTTENBERG: A girdle.

CONSANI: A girdle for the girldles.

OTTENBERG: Wait, what are we doing with the hair? Is this where we want the headscarf ?

CONSANI: You could keep that headscarf and you could—

OTTENBERG: Yes. So let’s tuck it in and belt it.

CONSANI: Okay diva, tuck.

OTTENBERG: Is it called diva tuck?

CONSANI: No, girl. I can’t name names because as of now, the cheapest pair of good trans-tucking underwear that doesn’t have a logo on the outside is $40 for one pair on Etsy. And that’s what every trans woman in the industry wears.

OTTENBERG: When you were growing up, did you know who the trans runway girls were?

CONSANI: I didn’t know that there were any.

OTTENBERG: But you wanted to be one.

CONSANI: I didn’t know if I could do it or not, but I always wanted representation. I feel like the more I know, the less I understand, because it’s like, “Is this really representing the trans community? Or is it showing people what they want a trans woman to look like?”

OTTENBERG: Can you explain that a little more?

CONSANI: Every trans person working right now is white, skinny, and very fish-passing. I started because I wanted to represent trans people, but the more I work, the more I see that I’m not really the person to do that in a full-scale way because I’m only one part of it.

OTTENBERG: You just seem to be a fierce girl that’s doing what she wants to be doing. Alex, where are you from?

CONSANI: I’m from San Francisco, California, North Bay area.

OTTENBERG: And where do you live?

CONSANI: I live in the Lower East Side.

OTTENBERG: Right. Wait. What flavor was your vape again?

CONSANI: This is a Crazi Berry bar, diva.

OTTENBERG: Right.

CONSANI: Really diva down.

OTTENBERG: What’s the best place to meet a man?

CONSANI: I’ve been going to this French restaurant—just go to a fab restaurant with some hot-ass waiters. Be a flirt.

OTTENBERG: And see what happens.

CONSANI: Honestly, Dimes Square. There’s a lot of hot waiters that you can finesse if you drink with them, which makes me feel something at least, girl. Or Instagram.

OTTENBERG: Can we add a little more jaw, Lucas?

WILSON: Yeah.

CONSANI: I don’t know. I love to hunt for dick, but I’m not that driven. I’m more of a girl’s girl. I like to be around people that make me happy. If that’s someone I’m fucking on, that’s great. But it’s kind of difficult to find trade, especially for the trans girls. It’s very ran-through in the sense that everybody has already been in cahoots with everybody that is down for the doll, I fear.

OTTENBERG: Yeah.

CONSANI: And when you’re going for only trans women, it feels like a fetish and that’s not hot for me.

OTTENBERG: Right.

CONSANI: And it’s hard to find the people who don’t fetishize but just love a doll, love a boy pussy. No one appreciates it. It’s different for the girls.

OTTENBERG: Oh, wait, this is the shoe that I want to try.

CONSANI: Yeah, this is fab.

OTTENBERG: Okay, let me look at my questions. Let’s see what else we’ve forgotten about.

CONSANI: I’m trying to spill tea, but not too much tea. If I say any crazy names, cut that out, girl.

OTTENBERG: Okay. What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you on set?

CONSANI: The first season I did I went to a show and—this was before I publicly came out as trans. I was talking with some other trans models and I said “slay” or something, and this person came up to me and was like, “You cis bitches need to keep gay slang out of your mouth.” I was so embarrassed, but then I fought back and I’m like, “Girl, that is not gay slang, shut the fuck up.”

OTTENBERG: Yeah, like, says who? Who’s your favorite supermodel?

CONSANI: I’ve met Connie Fleming a couple of times. Her energy, her presence—I feel like Connie really just started it for me.

OTTENBERG: Connie was so mean to me for like 20 years but that’s fine, I don’t care.

CONSANI: That makes sense. I feel like that’s part of her character.

OTTENBERG: Yes. She was doing the door and being mean to me, but I was getting in. I loved it.

CONSANI: Period. You have to have a little moment for rudeness. I mean, the people that I resonate with the most are often people that I either hated or who hated me.

OTTENBERG: Yeah. Okay, she has the right shoe now.

CONSANI: What’s your favorite era of fashion? Like one year.

OTTENBERG: It’s always going to be the 1970s.

CONSANI: Period.

OTTENBERG: Let’s take the shoes and stockings off. I would say it’s either 1977 or 1978 because it’s full disco, but also when people were starting to get into hardcore leather.

CONSANI: When the girls first started experimenting with some real shit. I don’t see a lot of inspiration and documentation of that kind of stuff because it was very underground, which is what made it so cool. You weren’t doing it to take a picture, you were doing it because you wanted to feel a certain way.

OTTENBERG: I also truly love the early 1990s. It’s the best thing ever.

CONSANI: Have you seen the Pamela Anderson video of her putting her hair up with a panty?

OTTENBERG: No.

CONSANI: That’s her life hack in the 1990s. She used to put a thong in her bag and she puts her hair in a messy bun with a fucking panty. That’s panties.

OTTENBERG: That is pure panties. Okay. So then let’s put these on instead.

CONSANI: These ones are so big in the butt, it gives diaper and I love it.

OTTENBERG: Did you know you were a good model before you were a model?

CONSANI: Every time I got in front of a camera since I can first remember, I’ve always been, like, “Okay, girl, this is where I’m supposed to be.”

OTTENBERG: Yeah. Do you read all the bad trans news?

CONSANI: Definitely. Thankfully, I had supportive parents and found my community when I was young, but I see a lot of people who don’t have the same privileges as me and it’s really scary. I think it’s the lack of true representation for the people who are being affected. It really prevents any growth from happening. But I’m happy it’s being talked about now and it’s not an underground struggle.

OTTENBERG: Did you know other trans kids growing up?

CONSANI: Yeah. I grew up going to this really amazing summer camp called Camp Aranu’tiq. I met a lot of trans models there. Ella Snyder and I were friends when she was 10 and I was 6 or 7. It was a week-long thing, and it was only trans people. All the camp counselors were really fab trans people. It was like having the whole cast of Transparent as our camp counselors, and Jamie Clayton from Sense8. Just gaggy-ass people taking care of these little tranny kids. I did that every year for five years.

OTTENBERG: Oh, I love that. In your inner circle, are you the doll?

CONSANI: I’m never going to say I’m the doll. I have a lot of trans friends, but I feel like it’s difficult, especially where I live right now. A lot of the people that I resonate with are all in fashion. I mean, I love a fashion girl, but I’ve always been a real bitch. I love someone that will just speak freely and not look at whatever the fuck I’m doing or they’re doing and hold that against me or against themselves. It’s difficult because already there’s a lot of competition being trans. I’m definitely with the cis girls right now, but I’m making my way.

OTTENBERG: Okay, so she’s with the cis girls.

CONSANI: She’s with the cis girls, but they’re kind of trans. I love a cis girl that gives doll-coded. Like surrounded by trans people growing up. And if not, it’s questioning boots.

OTTENBERG: Okay, hold on. I’m confused. Are you hanging out with the faggots or are you hanging out with the cis girls?

CONSANI: The cis girls. I mean, there’s a couple of gays. My roommate is twink down. He’s twunk.

OTTENBERG: Okay, cool.

CONSANI: Yeah, he has the protein powder. [Laughs] But it doesn’t give enough community.

OTTENBERG: People, she’s looking for a community.

CONSANI: We are tucking with the same tape. Call all the dolls.

OTTENBERG: Right. You’re passing, but you’re still tucking with the same tape.

CONSANI: Exactly. And, obviously, gender is a spectrum, and I feel like once you reach a point where you can look at everybody as a person, regardless of what stance they hold in the trans community, that’s when I see the doll relationships really thrive, so I’m just trying to find the Stacie to my Malibu Barbie.

OTTENBERG: Okay. How was she discovered?

CONSANI: Technically through Facebook. I really wanted to model when I was younger because there were no dolls doing it. I talked to my mom about it, and we did all this research and I ended up signing to an agency in L.A. that was trans only. That’s where I met Dominique Jackson, she was my role model growing up.

OTTENBERG: Amazing.

CONSANI: I worked with them for a while, but I feel like the focus of that was too heavily centered around being trans. It didn’t allow us to actually model, because that was the only value that we had. So I didn’t work for a bit, then I signed to an agency in San Francisco and my agent knew people who were working at IMG and things kind of just fell into place. And then I moved here when I turned 18. She popped her pussy, she tucked her tape, honey. Now we’re here.

OTTENBERG: How would you describe your style, Alex?

CONSANI: I would say chic because I want to give chic, but I don’t think it gives chic. It’s definitely like IG whore meets H&M sponsorship, meets—

OTTENBERG: Are you sponsored by H&M?

CONSANI: I am. But no, it gives IG whore meets Nordstrom Rack.

OTTENBERG: What do you think about in the shower?

CONSANI: I really don’t think that much, diva. The brain is kind of empty boots when I’m at home. I mean, maybe I’m just “sleeping with my eyes open” vibes.

OTTENBERG: [Laughs] Okay. Most psychotic night to recount here for posterity’s sake.

CONSANI: There was a night when I moved to New York and I ended up sleeping on the street fully in a pair of Demonias and a miniskirt down bad on, I think it was literally, like, Canal Street. It was a crazy night, I carried, got up in the morning, and took the train. I feel like nothing happened.

OTTENBERG: [Laughs] She’s young.

CONSANI: Yeah, she’s young. But also, to be quite fair, I’m not really a going-out type bitch. If I know I don’t have a ride home, I’ll go home at 10.

OTTENBERG: Right. What’s your favorite movie?

CONSANI: I love Matilda, the old one.

OTTENBERG: Would you ever consider acting?

CONSANI: I’ve tried but I’m not good. Maybe I could be a Hunter Schafer look-alike dupe or something.

OTTENBERG: Right.

CONSANI: When they run out of budget, I’m here.

OTTENBERG: [Laughs] Okay. What’s the best place to go shopping in New York?

CONSANI: I mean, Urban Jungle in Bushwick. But honestly, go to Jersey. That’s the secret.

OTTENBERG: Wow. And wait, what’s the store in Jersey? Oh, we’re not telling. She gave me that look, people.

CONSANI: Girl, I didn’t say anything.

OTTENBERG: You said it all with your eyes.

CONSANI: I mean, look up Goodwill, you’ll find something.

OTTENBERG: When do you get nervous?

CONSANI: I get nervous when I travel a lot. I get nervous when I know people are negatively perceiving me, which I feel like, that’s everybody. But when I know that a bitch is talking shit, I’m going to be a little bit anxious. But also, fuck those bitches, be mad.

OTTENBERG: Can you describe your beauty routine in three words?

CONSANI: My beauty routine is, like, more sleep and makeup, girl. I don’t have nothing. It’s, like, Bioderma. Is that three words?

OTTENBERG: What are your dreams?

CONSANI: When I think of my dreams, I think about what a young trans child wants, which is just representation, and access to information.

OTTENBERG: You’re the best. You’re so special.

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Hair: Lucas Wilson using Oribe at Day One.

Makeup: Kuma using MAC Cosmetics at Streeters.

Nails: Leanne Woodley using She Nails It Hydration at She Likes Cutie.

Set Design: Lauren Nikrooz at 11th House Agency.

Photography Assistant: Mouhamadou “Fallou” Seck.

Fashion Assistants: Nicholson Baird and Isabelle Lange.

Set Design Assistant: Kervens Mazile.

Retouching: Helen Studios.

Location: Highlight Studios.