Tanaya Henry

Tanaya K. Henry (born August 31, 1988) is an American jewelry designer & model from Minneapolis, Minnesota.^[1]

Early life

Tanaya Henry was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on August 31, 1988. She is of Native American (Sioux & Potawatami tribes), African American, Swedish & Russian descent. She is the daughter of Tawnya Lynn Nelson & Derick Anthony Henry. She has two younger siblings, Katya Elise Henry and Gabrielle Henry. She grew up in various parts of Minnesota. She danced & was a competitive cheerleader for 5 years. Beginning modeling at the young age of 9, she worked with many companies based in Minnesota, Target being one of them. As she got older, Henry shot with local Minneapolis photographers. She graduated from Prior Lake Senior High in 2006 ^[2] and went to college at a local community college to get her associate degree and study computer programming. Within the same year, she dropped out of college and moved to New York City at the age of 19 to work as a professional model. [3]

Henry's father, Derick has been a bodyguard for 20+ years protecting some of the worlds biggest superstars, including Prince, Oprah Winfrey, Sting, Jonas Brothers, Mary J. Blige, Maxwell, Janet Jackson, Avril Lavigne, and more. He has retired from body guarding and owns a security company who provides security to celebrities and VIPs worldwide. Derick Henry is also part-owner of Miami's very first 24-hour strip-club and restaurant, E11even Miami.

Career

Shortly after moving to New York, she signed with Wilhelmina Models and modeled in national campaigns for companies like Sephora, Make Up For Ever, Xbox, Apple, Target, Disney, Clairol and more.

Henry gained attention when she became a human billboard from her year-long She Wears Your Tee campaign in 2010.[4] Henry and some childhood friends from Minnesota came up with the idea to sell the days on her calendar to companies in exchange for promotion. This marketing technique attracted media coverage,[3][5]^[2][3] The site featured a calendar where reservations could be made by the day for Henry's marketing services, with the price increasing by $1 per day. Companies participating included Adidas, Vimeo, Groupon, hip-hop group Atmosphere and others.[6][7]^[4][5]

She later moved into a warehouse in Hoboken, New Jersey called the Pudding Factory, owned by photographer River Clark, with whom she collaborated.[2][8]^[1][6] Being immersed in the Andy Warhol-like creative factory, she was drawn in by the creative process. She started to creative direct photoshoots with Clark. Henry quickly learned about photography and how to use photoshop to edit her photos. Being computer-savvy at a young age allowed her to be able to design her own websites.

In late 2009, Henry developed an earring necklace by hand, known as the "earlace"^[7] after not being able to find them in stores. Henry worked as a go-go dancer at multiple NYC nightclubs from 2008-2010 to fund her budding jewelry business. Her co-workers started buying the earrings from her, one of them being a bartender at M2 Lounge on 28th between 10th & 11th Ave. One evening, her "earlace" caught the attention of Alicia Keys' stylist. Weeks later, the earrings were on the cover of the last issue of Giant Magazine worn by Keys. [9] She then created different variations of the earlace, catching the eyes of stylists like Mariel Haenn (Rihanna) and Niki Schwan (Nicki Minaj) through one of Henry's best friends, stylist Maeve Reilly. One of the variations of Henry's earlace appeared in Nicki Minaj's "Your Love" music video.[10]^[8] ] After this, she decided to start her company "Lace by Tanaya".

Through her personal relationships with celebrities & their stylists, Henry's jewelry line Lace by Tanaya has since been spotted on the likes of Beyonce, Zendaya, Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner, Khloé Kardashian, Janelle Monáe, Alicia Keys, Cassie, Ciara, Jhené Aiko, Miley Cyrus, Tyra Banks, Ashanti, Pia Mia, Kat Graham, supermodel Jessica White, Karrueche Tran, Kesha, Christina Milian, Amber Rose, Nas, Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi, R. Kelly, Trey Songz, Chris Brown, Russell Brand, & Swizz Beatz. Lace by Tanaya has been featured in publications like Russian Vogue, British Vogue, Harper's Baazar, Lucky Magazine, Complex Magazine, Huffington Post & more.

Henry moved from New York City to Los Angeles, CA in late 2011 to pursue commercial modeling and acting. She signed and is still represented by NTA Models & Talent, modeling for companies like Ciroc, Fiat, True Religion, L'oreal and Nike.

In 2014, Henry appeared as the love interest in Trey Songz music video for "Slow Motion"

Filmography (including music videos)

Commercials

References

External links

• Official Website
• Lace by Tanaya Website