Victoria's Secret Hires Its First Ever Transgender Model
Sampaio's hiring comes in the wake of offensive comments made by Ed Razek, the chief marketing officer of Victoria's Secret's parent company, L Brands.
A First For Victoria's Secret
Iconic lingerie brand Victoria's Secret is making a huge step towards more inclusive representation with their models by hiring their first transgender model, Valentina Sampaio. Sampaio will be featured in the upcoming PINK campaign released later this month.
Her Instagram Announcement
Sampaio announced her involvement in a post on Instagram, sharing a backstage photo from filming.
Her agent, Erio Zanon, released a statement expressing Sampaio's excitement to be involved with the brand.
"Of course she is very happy for it and she hopes that it shall continue to break barriers and to make a step to more inclusivity and representation for everybody."
Encouragement From Other Models
Other Victoria's Secret models shared their words of welcome on social media. Lais Ribeiro tweeted her excitement over Sampaio's hiring and former Angel Lily Aldridge left some supportive heart emojis on her Instagram post.
Trying To Make Good
It's definitely a good first step in terms of representation and an important move for Victoria's Secret. Sampaio's hiring follows offensive remarks regarding plus sized models and transgender models in the Victoria Secret Fashion Show made by the former the chief marketing officer of Victoria's Secret's parent company L Brands, Ed Razek in Vogue.
"So it’s like, why don’t you do 50? Why don’t you do 60? Why don’t you do 24? 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. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It’s a 42-minute entertainment special."
