Just less than a year after a company official said it will not feature transgender models in its fashion shows, Victoria’s Secret featured its first transgender model, Valentina Sampaio.
Erio Zanon, Sampaio’s agent said, “I confirm she will be featured in the new Pink campaign that will be released in Mid August.
Victoria’s Secret contacted Sampaio via Instagram in April and then later confirmed her for the VS shoot after a casting.
Zanon said Sampaio “is very happy for it and she hopes that it shall contribute to break barriers and to make a step to more inclusivity and representation for everybody.”
News reports showed Sampaio posting a photo on Instagram last week dressed in a white robe tagged “VS Pink” and captioned it “backstage click @vspink.”
Laverne Cox, a transgender actress and activist who stars in Orange Is The New Black wrote “wow finally!” in the comments of the photo.
A Victoria’s Secret Angel, Lais Ribeiro commented with clapping hands emoji and later tweeted about the news.
Ribeiro who is also Brazillian wrote, “This makes me so happy.” She also wrote that Sampaio is the first transgender model to work with the brand.
L Brands owns Victoria’s Secret.
In an interview with Vogue back in November 2018, Razek said that the company would not hire “transsexuals” or curvier models for the brand’s iconic fashion shows.
“It’s like, why doesn’t your show do this? Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should,” he added. “Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It’s a 42-minute entertainment special.”