LIV LITTLE
Editor-in-Cheif and founder of gal-dem, Liv is one of the youngest faces in list at just 23. The online and print magazine run by women of colour and the tea, is built up of over '70 women and non-binary people' employees.
Liv launched the magazine in 2015 after becoming frustrated at the lack of diversity at her university.
Describing the message behind gal-dem Liv writes: 'We want people of different shapes, sizes, sexes and ethnic backgrounds to engage with the work we are doing. It is no secret that the mainstream media doesn't represent or reflect us, so we are doing it for ourselves.'
SOPHIE WALKER
Journalist and author Sophie Walker took on the role of leader of the Women's Equality Party, set up by broadcaster Sandi Toksvig, in 2015.
Speaking at the time, Sophie said: 'We want to put equality for women back on the mainstream political agenda. We believe that it's time to really take action to fix many things that have been left unfixed for too long.'
Sophie, 46, who has two daughters and two step-sons, campaigned in the London Mayor elections in 2016.
PARIS LEES
Transgender model Paris Lees who describes herself as a 'writer, presenter and campaigner', is the first openly trans woman to be profiled by the magazine.
Paris, 27, grew up as a boy in the former mining town of Hucknall, in Nottinghamshire.
She assumed she was gay, until she served eight months in a young offenders institution for a robbery she committed when she was 16, where she vowed to turn her life around and become the woman she truly was and is.
Lees was also the first out trans person to appear on BBC Question Time, and has been called the 'voice of a generation' by i-D magazine and 'the fearless, vital voice we need' by Dazed for her work to champion equality and combat bullying.
DINA TORKIA
Dina was named the 9th most powerful YouTube star in March this year, falling only behind the likes of Zoella and Alfie Deyes.
Known as the 'hijab blogger' Dina has worked tirelessly to alter the perceptions around women who wear headscarves.
She boasts a strong online presence with her YouTube channel amassing over 700,000 subscribers.
GILLIAN WEARING
The Turner-prize winning artist has become one of the leading names in British art.
The artist shot to fame in the 1990s with a collection of photographs she had taken of strangers in the street, holding up signs with 'confessions' written on them.
In 1997 she won the Turner Prize for 60 Minutes Silence, a film of uniformed police officers sitting together.
Wearing was elected as lifetime member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 2007.
In 2014 she turned heads in Birmingham when she unveiled a £100,000 bronze artwork featuring two single mums in Centenary Square representing what it means to be an ‘ordinary’ family.
And last year she was commissioned to make a statue for Parliamant Square opting for Millicent Fawcett, the suffragist leader.
RENI EDDO-LODGE
Reni is a writer on race and gender issues and a former contributing editor at Feminist Times, she was also a judge for the Woman's Hour Power List, 2014.
Her most famous blog post, 'Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race' was a viral hit, and its book equivalent has since sold more than 30,000 copies.
STELLA CREASY
Labour MP Stella Creasy is the second politician to join the Vogue line up.
Prior to her election as MP for Walthamstow in 2010, Stella, 40, worked as head of campaigns at the Scout Association and as deputy director of the thinktank Involve.
She has become known for her campaigns against sexism in parliament having criticised her own party member Clive Lewis for his 'violent sexual' language in 2017.
In 2013 she was applauded for calling out journalist Toby Young for his 'breasts' tweet about an MP live on Newsnight.
In 2017 she fiercly campaigned for a woman to be featured on the new £10 note.
TODAY, she's a fierce feminist, human rights campaigner, writer and model - but life wasn't always so easy for Paris Lees.
As she becomes the first openly transgender woman to be featured in British Vogue, here's what we know about Paris...
Who is Paris Lees?
Paris was born male in the ex-mining town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.
Her dad Daren was a club bouncer and former boxer, who split from her mum, then 17, when Paris was just a baby.
Her aunt and grandma helped to bring her up, but Paris had a difficult childhood - hounded by bullies who kicked, punched and spat at her.
When she was nine, Paris moved in with her dad - and the pair had a tricky relationship, as Daren struggled to accept his son.
A post shared by Paris Lees (@paris.lees) on Sep 14, 2017 at 10:32am PDT
At the age of 16, Paris fell into gay sex work, as a 'rent boy', and robbed a client.
She was sentenced to two years in prison for the crime, and served eight months behind bars.
On release, Paris went to college to finish her A Levels and worked part-time at a call centre, while continuing to work in the sex industry.
When her beloved grandma died suddenly, at the age of 54, Paris moved to Brighton to study English at university - and start a new life as a woman.
A post shared by Paris Lees (@paris.lees) on Aug 16, 2017 at 11:40am PDT
She started hormone replacement therapy at London's Charing Cross Hospital, but struggled with depression and self-acceptance during her time at uni.
After graduating, she moved to London and did work experience at Gay Times.
Paris, who's never revealed her age, had facial feminisation surgery in 2012 - which was funded by her mum.
She now identifies as a bisexual trans woman, and a feminist.
Thank you @Edward_Enninful for including me in @BritishVogue, and this special moment, with these strong, smart and inspiring women. As we celebrate 100 years since women have been able to vote in the UK, let's make sure we're fighting for ALL women. Our diversity is our strength pic.twitter.com/ve8M9wzfDw — Paris Lees (@parislees) January 4, 2018
Where would I recognise Paris Lees from?
Paris founded META, the first British magazine aimed at the trans community, and was the acting assistant editor of Gay Times.
You may remember her from past Sun columns - and can read her views on gender-neutral toilets here.
She also writes for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Vice and has appeared on Channel 4 news.
In January 2018, she was the first openly trans woman to appear in British Vogue, during a special shoot celebrating 100 years since women got the right to vote here in Britain.
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Paris was the first trans woman presenter on both BBC Radio 1 and Channel 4, and produced a R1 documentary called The Hate Debate.
In November 2014, Paris appeared on Hollyoaks, playing herself, as the friend of transgender character Blessing Chambers - and was a panellist on Question Time a year earlier.
And she memorably slammed Keith Vaz’s "bloody cheek" when she was called before a Home Affairs Select Committee to discuss prostitution laws in September 2016.
Paris Lees has shared a triumphant post about making history as the first “trans kid from a council estate” to appear on the front cover of Vogue Magazine.
Vogue, which was taken over by Editor Edward Enniful in April of last year, has dedicated its February issue to “The New Suffragetes”, featuring a group of trailblazing women striving towards equality.
Lees is joined by the likes of writer Reni Eddo-Lodge, founder of Gal-Dem Liv Little, and politician Stella Creasy.
Writer, journalist and transgender rights activist Lees took to Twitter to remark that she “is being celebrated as a woman – in Vogue ffs!”.
“Look how far we’ve come. It’s insane that I could be in Vogue. A trans kid from a council estate. People at school told me I’d never be a girl, would never be pretty enough, would never be accepted,” she wrote on the micro-blogging site.
“WELL HERE I AM BEING CELEBRATED AS A WOMAN – IN VOGUE FFS!”.
Look how far we've come. It's insane that I could be in Vogue. A trans kid from a council estate. People at school told me I'd never be a girl, would never be pretty enough, would never be accepted WELL HERE I AM BEING CELEBRATED AS A WOMAN – IN VOGUE FFS!https://t.co/Wsd84E84bI — Paris Lees (@parislees) January 4, 2018
The group have women have been brought together in the issue to discuss what equality means to them.
In a video promoting the edition, the women were asked about the changes that would improve the lives of women.
“When a baby’s born, we don’t ask whether it’s a boy or girl, we ask whether it’s healthy,” hopes Lees.
“Feminism is about pushing for the rights of women, and that includes all women,” she added.
“I hope we have loosened our focus on getting women into higher positions in society, and instead, really start thinking about the women in the margins,” said Eddo-Lodge.
The February issue of the magazine is out on February 5.
Julia Hetta
ONE hundred years since women were first granted the right to vote, a new kind of suffragist is rising. In the February issue of Vogue, Eva Wiseman meets seven influential females fighting to empower women in the battle for equality that rages on.
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The Hollywood Portfolio: Margot And Nicole Cover February Vogue The Hollywood Portfolio: Margot And Nicole Cover February Vogue
Politicians Stella Creasy and Sophie Walker join artist Gillian Wearing, gal-dem founder Liv Little, trans awareness campaigner and journalist Paris Lees, blogger Dina Torkia and writer Reni Eddo-Lodge for a unique portrait by Julia Hetta and a Vogue video in which they explain what equality means to them, the changes that would improve the lives of women and what the next hundred years will hold.
“There’s definitely a Mean Girls-style Burn Book in politics – patriarchy isn’t gendered – but the way we talk about other women is important," Labour MP Creasy tells Wiseman in the interview accompanying the portrait. "Women should be believed, because coming forward about harassment is hard. I see the pressure to close down the debates, to say systems are in place, but if so, they’re not working. I’m the anti-Sheryl Sandberg. For me, it’s not about leaning in, it’s about building an army. Progress can happen. My mistake was thinking that it would be easy… Women are set up to fail. We can never be thin, curvy, clever, kind enough. But I’m impatient to change the world.”
The New Wave Of Girl Power The New Wave Of Girl Power
On her soon-to-be unveiled statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square - the first woman to stand on a pedestal there made by the first woman to create one - Wearing said: “Fawcett was all about dialogue. And it worked – she spent six decades getting women the vote. But it took a lot of work! The Guerrilla Girls campaigned, and people kept counting, compiling statistics over 10 years. Now Maria Balshaw is running the Tate, things should change further. The hard thing today is overcoming the psychology – this prejudice goes deep. We need to change people’s inner stereotypes of women. And, that’s harder than fighting for the vote.”
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The Women's March In Pictures The Women's March In Pictures
Read the full interview in the February issue of Vogue which hits newsstands on January 5.
