If glamour is defined by an unshakeable sense of self across music, film and fashion – then Teyana Taylor is its undisputed reigning monarch. 

There’s a specific kind of electricity that only Harlem can produce – a rhythmic, neon-lit energy that fuses the grit of the pavement with the grace of the catwalk. If you were to bottle that energy, label it and give it a pair of gravity-defying sneakers, it would look exactly like Teyana Taylor. At 35, Teyana isn’t just a performer; she’s a cultural engineer who has spent two decades proving that “glamour” isn’t about the dress you wear, but the history that you carry within it. 

Her rise to fame reads like a blueprint for the modern multi-hyphenate. While most teenagers were navigating the awkward hallways of high school, a 15-year-old Teyana was already in the rehearsal room with Beyoncé, choreographing the high-octane, siren-wailing visuals for the ‘Ring the Alarm’ music video. She didn’t just enter the industry; she kicked the door down with a swivel and a smirk. From her first major introduction to the public consciousness on MTV’s My Super Sweet 16 – where her bravado was as oversized as her birthday plans – to her current status as a global icon, Teyana is an all-round entertainer who can stop the world with a single frame. Who could forget the cultural earthquake of her viral performance in Kanye West’s ‘Fade’ music video? It was a moment of pure, athletic glamour that redefined the female form in the digital age. 

Since then, Teyana has performed in the last two editions of Vogue World, became the youngest winner of The Masked Singer in 2022, and showcased her vibrant persona on the late-night circuit by hosting Saturday Night Live earlier this year. Yet, even with the world at her feet, she remains a student, having enrolled at the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. Teyana Taylor is a woman who refuses to be finished – she is a perpetual motion machine and right now, she’s moving towards a legacy that is purely, undeniably glamorous. 

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Words: Geraldine Amoko 
Photography: Getty Images, Will Heath/NBC