Vivian Wilson, the 21-year-old transgender daughter of billionaire Elon Musk, made her New York Fashion Week debut Friday night, walking in Alexis Bittar’s “MISS USA 1991” presentation as Miss South Carolina.
Wilson sashayed down the runway in a short-sleeved, shimmering red gown from Bittar’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection, accessorized with gold earrings and a small clutch. Designer Alexis Bittar said she intentionally cast each contestant to represent a U.S. state “where trans rights are under assault,” and described the collection as playing “with juxtapositions” — “fluidity against structure, texture against control, boldness against fragility.”
Bittar said the show’s hand-sculpted Lucite palette drew on muted sherbet shades evocative of the early 1990s set against graphic, gold-textured shapes. The designers’ statement framed the presentation as both a stylistic nod to the era and a political gesture, with cast members personifying states at the center of recent debates over transgender rights.
Although it was Wilson’s first appearance at New York Fashion Week, she has walked runways before. Page Six reported that she appeared at the Season 10 premiere event of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars in May, where footage showed Wilson voguing and performing on the carpet.
Wilson has been publicly estranged from her father. She has previously criticized Musk after he used her birth name on social media, a practice known as deadnaming that many transgender people and advocacy groups regard as harmful. Musk has voiced opposition to her transition and has said he was “tricked” into authorizing gender-affirming care when she was a minor, remarks that have been reported in media coverage of the family.
Wilson told Teen Vogue that she came out as transgender in 2020, saying she feared she could go “down a destructive path” if she did not embrace her identity. The 21-year-old influencer has since been building a public profile in fashion and social media while maintaining distance from her father.
Bittar’s casting and the show’s concept placed representation and political context at the center of the presentation, reflecting ongoing national conversations about transgender rights and visibility. Wilson’s runway appearance at a major fashion week event marked a new milestone in her public career and underscored the crossover of activism and fashion among designers and models addressing social issues on prominent stages.