Valentina Sampaio Is Reportedly Victoria's Secret's First Openly Transgender Model
Valentina Sampaio is making history once again: She&aposs reportedly the first openly transgender model to work with Victoria&aposs Secret. Sampaio broke the news herself on Instagram on Friday (July 2) by posting a pic of herself in a fluffy bathrobe: "Backstage click @vspink 💕💕," she captioned the photo, adding a string of hashtags: "#bastidores #new #vspink #campaign #representatividade #diversity #beauty #selfie #model #life #fashion #usa #vstorm #valentinasampaio #bomdia." According to a statement from the company, the Brazilian model and actress is featured in the the back-to-campus campaign for Victoria&aposs Secret PINK.
Sampaio&aposs post received a ton of support, including congrats from Victoria&aposs Secret Angel (and fellow Brazilian) Lais Ribeiro, who posted how happy she was about the news on Twitter, and Laverne Cox, who wrote "Wow finally!" in the comments of Sampaio&aposs Instagram.
Sampaio posted a video of herself to Instagram as well, seeming to reference her milestone in the caption—and the PINK campaign again in the hashtags. "Never stop dreaming genteee 💋💋💋," she wrote. "#staytuned #bastidores #new #vspink #campaign #representatividade #diversity #beauty #selfie #life #fashion #usa #vstorm #valentinasampaio 🌈✌🏼"
Victoria&aposs Secret came under fire last year for comments made by its chief marketing officer, Ed Razek, during an interview with Vogue. When he was asked about why the company didn&apost include transgender or plus-size models in its shows, he responded that he didn&apost believe they should be featured, calling the show a "fantasy."
Trans models like Carmen Carrera and Leyna Bloom have publicly expressed their desire to walk for Victoria&aposs Secret. In 2013, Carrera was the subject of a Change.org petition, which received more than 35,000 signatures, asking the company to make her the brand&aposs first transgender model. Last April, Bloom launched a Twitter campaign to be the first trans woman of color to walk the show&aposs runway.
Sampaio herself is no stranger to advocating for representation. She was also the first trans model on any Vogue cover, appearing on the March 2017 cover of Vogue Paris (she also appeared on the covers of Vogue Brazil and Vogue Germany later that year). "Her accomplishment comes despite recent setbacks for the LGBT community in Brazil—including a spike in hate crimes and killings of LGBT people," Buzzfeed wrote in a profile of her in June 2017. "Though the reality for most trans women in Brazil differs sharply from Sampaio’s, her ascent to fashion’s most coveted spot is seen both as a milestone and the mark of a new normal for transgender people in her industry."
Originally Appeared on Glamour
