Laith Ashley De La Cruz[1] (born July 6, 1989) is an American model, actor, activist, singer-songwriter and entertainer of Dominican descent.

[3] His father was Roman Catholic and his mother Pentecostal Christian which influenced some of the attitudes held by family during his coming out.

[citation needed] Laith attended business school and studied psychology at Fairfield University in Connecticut.

[9][10] Since that time, Laith has modeled for a variety of venues and campaigns, including Barneys (photographed by Bruce Weber),[11] in Calvin Klein and in Diesel (shot by David LaChapelle) becoming the first-ever transgender man to be featured in a Diesel campaign.

[2] Laith Ashley has also appeared on the covers of renowned fashion and lifestyle publications including in British GQ, Vogue France, Out Magazine,[3] Elle UK,[11] Attitude UK[12] Gay Times, FTM Magazine[13] and Cassius,[14] amongst others.

In June 2016, Laith was featured in Attitude UK as the magazine's Summerwear and Underwear Special.

In 2016, Laith appeared in Strut, a television program about transgender models, which was produced by Whoopi Goldberg.

[17] The bill included acts such as Jessica 6, Icona Pop, Keke Wyatt, Eve, Cece Peniston, Kim Petras, Jesse Saint John, Allie X, Gio Bravo, Karisma, and Saturn Rising.

[22][better source needed] In January 2023, he starred as the love interest in the Taylor Swift music video "Lavender Haze".

He worked with FLUX, a division of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which is dedicated to raising awareness and providing support to trans and gender-nonconforming people,[26] actively takes part in Pride parades, and has talked on numerous occasions of the dangers of transphobia and visibility of ethnic minorities.

In a lengthy interview with The Huffington Post titled "I Am Trans, But It’s Not All I Am", Laith Ashley said he aspired to be more than just a transgender man.