Jenny Shimizu

Jenny Shimizu is a Japanese-American model and actress, born in San Jose in 1967, known for being one of the first openly lesbian Asian-American models to achieve international prominence in the 1990s — she was the first minority model to open a Prada show. She appeared in campaigns for Calvin Klein, Versace, and Donna Karan and was a significant figure in the queer fashion world of that decade. In 1993, after a cameo in Madonna's "Rain" music video, Shimizu began a relationship with the singer, and in 1996 she met Angelina Jolie while filming Foxfire together, beginning a romance Jolie later described publicly, saying, "I fell in love with her the first second I saw her." Shimizu has spoken candidly in interviews about both relationships and about her sexuality more broadly. She has been an advocate for LGBTQ+ visibility in the fashion industry.