Nikita Dragun
- Attended high school in Virginia, United States
Nikita Dragun emerged as a prominent and influential figure in the digital age, known for her candid documentation of her gender transition, her expertise in makeup artistry, and her bold personal style. An American internet personality, YouTuber, model, and entrepreneur, she built a massive online following by blending beauty tutorials with intimate vlogs about her life as a transgender woman, becoming a visible advocate and role model for the LGBTQ+ community.
Born Nikita Nguyen on January 31, 1996, in Belgium to Vietnamese parents, she spent her early childhood in Belgium before her family relocated to the United States, settling in Virginia. From a young age, Dragun expressed a strong interest in beauty and fashion. She began her transition during her teenage years while attending high school, a deeply personal journey she would later share publicly. She pursued higher education at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, studying business and branding, which would prove foundational for her future ventures.
Dragun launched her self-titled YouTube channel in 2013, initially focusing on makeup tutorials. Her content evolved to openly chronicle her transition, including hormone replacement therapy and gender confirmation surgeries, which resonated with a vast audience seeking representation. Her transparency, combined with her glamorous and confident aesthetic, quickly garnered millions of subscribers. Her influence expanded into modeling, with features in publications like Paper magazine and campaigns for major brands. She also launched her own successful beauty brand, Dragun Beauty, in 2019, which was notable for being one of the first transgender-owned cosmetics lines to achieve mainstream recognition.
Her growing profile led to appearances on reality television, including a starring role in the YouTube Originals competition series Beauty * Evolution and a featured part in the Hulu reality series The D'Amelio Show with social media stars Charli D'Amelio and Dixie D'Amelio. Dragun's career, however, has not been without public controversy, facing scrutiny over various social media incidents and legal matters. Despite these challenges, she remains a significant and discussed personality in the influencer sphere. As a model, content creator, and business owner, Nikita Dragun continues to maintain a public presence, navigating fame while representing a segment of her generation that came of age online.