Why Sakeema Peng Crook is one of the most influential LGBTQ people in fashion and the world right now
The inspirational international model and activist leads the Fashion, Art, and Design category, supported by Klarna in Attitude 101, empowered by Bentley.
Sakeema Peng Crook is the most stylish member of this year’s Attitude 101, empowered by Bentley – our annual list of 101 influential LGBTQs – so much so, the model-content creator-dancer-activist-multi-hyphenate leads our Fashion, Art, and Design category, supported by Klarna.
She graduated from the London Contemporary Dance School in 2015. Since then, she’s showcased a plethora of styles and forms of movement, collaborating with huge artists on some of the world’s biggest stages. She danced all the way to Glastonbury, performing on the iconic Pyramid Stage with Years and Years, appeared in FKA Twigs’ ‘Cellophane, Live at The Wallace Collection’ video and more recently in Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ music video for ‘Unholy’, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. She has also toured with dance productions created by Shobana Jeyasingh, Alexander Whitley and art organisation Fevered Sleep.
Crook is a regular fixture and active member of the London ballroom scene and was an original dancer in Europe’s first LGBTQIA+ inclusive strip club, Harpies, which centres on trans and queer bodies. She has used her experience to start conversations on trans bodies, including a talk at the Royal College of Art titled ‘Navigating Space in a Non-Cis body’. What’s clear is that Sakeema explores dance to its fullest, challenging herself and showing how her art relates to her body as a trans woman.
“Sakeema is committed to using her voice to campaign for Black liberation and trans freedom”
Playing dress-up is something Sakeema loves, so it’s no surprise that she has gravitated towards the fashion world, who have embraced her wholeheartedly. Sakeema’s achievements in fashion echo her dance prowess, having worked with the likes of The Body Shop and Calvin Klein, as well as revered fashion titles including British Vogue, Dazed and i-D.
Whether she is walking in a Ganni fashion show in Copenhagen, attending a Mugler event in Paris or starring in a D&G beauty campaign, Sakeema is always thinking about how she can use her platform to champion her activism. She is committed to using her voice to campaign for Black liberation and trans freedom, ensuring that as well as expressing herself creatively, she is also being heard, especially around BLM and trans rights and visibility.
Attitude 101, empowered by Bentley – our list of our 101 most influential LGBTQ people – appears in full in issue 351 of Attitude, available to buy and download now
The full list for Attitude 101 Fashion, Art, and Design, supported by Klarna
Aries Moross, Creative director, illustrator, and designer
Chema Díaz, Designer and DJ
Patrick McDowell, Designer
Parker Kit Hill, Model and actor
Nemar Parchment, Model and singer
Ryan Zaman, Model and writer
Sam Salter, Dancer, model, and actor
Charlie Clark-Perry, Founder and director of SUPA Model Management
Zhuo Chen, Model and artist
Words Joseph Kocharian Photography: Priya Oades and Amanda Urvall Nyrén