Valentina Sampaio Is Vogue Paris' First Ever Trans Cover Girl

'But only when a transgender person poses on the front cover of a fashion magazine and it is no longer necessary to write an editorial on the subject will we know that the battle is won.-Emmanuelle Alt, French Vogue editor

The French edition of Vogue magazine was founded in 1920, and despite the long list of stunning French trans women like Coccinelle, Marie-Pier Ysser, Marie-Pierre 'Bambi' Pruvot and most recently model Ines-Loan Rau, I was surprised to discover that Vogue Paris has never had a trans woman on the cover of their magazine until now.

The trans woman who has made that breakthrough fashion and French magazine history is Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio.  She recently graced the cover of Elle Brazil, and has starred in an ad campaign for L'oreal Paris.

"This month we are proud to celebrate transgender beauty and how models like Valentina Sampaio, who is posing for her first ever Vogue cover, are changing the face of fashion and deconstructing prejudice."said Vogue Paris on their Instagram account and pic of the historic cover.

The 21 year old Sampaio is also set to rip the runway for Saint Laurent soon, and will be on the March cover of Vogue Paris that hits newsstands on February 23.  It is the first time ever that a trans feminine woman has graced the cover of any French magazine.

The translated French title from the cover reads:  Transgender beauty; How they're shaking up the world.

We most certainly are.  It's also just another day and another historic accomplishment checked off the list for my sisters here in the US and around the world who are part of the long stylish line of trans models.
Vogue Paris editor Emmanuelle Alt said,"Valentina is on the cover of Vogue this month, not just for her looks or her sparkling personality, but because despite herself she embodies an age-old arduous struggle to be recognised and not to be perceived as something Other.”

Alt also said in her editorial that, “Trans people, the ultimate symbol of a rejection of conformity, are icons that Vogue supports and chooses to celebrate."

We transwomen around the world deeply appreciate you Vogue Paris for doing so.

But Alt also recognized that we have a long way to go to get to the point that seeing a trans feminine person on the cover of a fashion magazine becomes a mundane event.

I'm looking forward to speed up the day that we don't even have to find it necessary to say or argue the point that trans is beautiful, and trans women in all shapes, sizes and skin tones are beautiful in many ways.

I'm hoping that day comes along with all my sisters, and I'm here to witness it. 

Britain's Next Top Model Gets Its First Trans Contestant

Isis King broke this ground back in 2011  as the first trans contestant on America's Next Top Model, and two trailblazing trans models in April Ashley and Caroline Cossey were both British.

So it's not surprising for me to hear that when Cycle 11 of Britain's Next Top Model kicks off on March 16, there will be a girl like us competing in it for the first time .

She's 22 year old Talulah-Eve Brown from the town of Burton-Upon-Trent.   The 5' 8" Brown is a blogger and trans advocate who transitioned in 2014, and was crowned Miss Transgender Birmingham in 2015.

She's also a black belt in karate, so don't mess with this sister.

She wrote in a post on her Instagram account:  "I never thought a girl like me would find a place on a show like this and compete against such beautiful girls.  But I guess all you have to do is believe."

"Life isn't about finding the label that fits you best.  Life is about finding you!  And it's that journey that is incredible. Appreciate the bad just as much as the good"

Your trans siblings around the world hope that part of appreciating the good in life is you and all of us around the world celebrating you winning this cycle of Britain's Next Top Model 

Valentina Sampaio Appears On Cover Of Brazilian ELLE

While we were embroiled in the final stages of our contentious presidential election, there was a little trans history being made in Brazil from the modeling world.

19 year old model Valentina Sampaio became only the second trans person ever since Lea T did so in 2011 to grace the cover of ELLE Brazil.

That ELLE Brazil cover featuring Sampaio was released in November 2016.

There was also a L'Oreal commercial that ran during International Women's Day of Valentina getting made up to take her new Brazilian ID photo.

 

She's just the newest member of the long stylish line of trans models that goes back to the 1960's that gets more beautiful , groundbreaking and expansive very day..

Plus Size Trans Model Shay Neary Lands A Major Contract!

As Ive pointed out, trans feminine models have a long and proud history in the fashion world.

The long stylish line of trans models goes back to the 60's starting with April Ashley, and over the last few years we've had trans masculine and trans feminine models get attention, major contracts, ad campaigns and strut catwalks and slay photo shoots around the world.

Now we can add a plus size trans model to that stylish line of trans models in 28 year old Shay Neary.

While she's new to the modeling game, she recently made history by becoming the first out plus size trans model to land a major fashion campaign.   Heidi Kan, the founder of the plus size line Coverstory, was actually looking for a plus size trans model to feature in their first collection,

"When Hari Nef was signed by IMG and Caitlyn Jenner graced the cover of Vanity Fair, I knew it was time to promote and feature plus size trans models." said Kan.  

But Kan had no luck finding a plus sized trans model until she met Neary, who had recently been signed by Transmodels.   Kan found her just in time for the release of Coverstory's second collection, and is happy she did so.  Neary is modeling everything in the Coverstory collection from wrap caftans to silk blouses.

Neary transitioned 11 years ago and wants to show the world the complexity and variety of trans feminine bodies.
 

'We all have to be seen.  Not just some of us, not just ones who fit the transgender bill," she told Mic. "Not just the streamlined passable woman, or the plastic Kim (Kardashian) wannabe.  We all have value and integrity  We deserve to be seen in mainstream media...Our lives have purpose."

She not only wants to be working as much as plus size model superstars Ashley Graham and Tess Holliday, she  also wants to push fashion designers to do a better job designing clothes for plus size women.  

She told Revelist that she also wants to be a role model for our trans kids

"I'd love to be a representation for trans youth.   Teach trans kids that they only need to be themselves to succeed.in life.  Confidence and passion will take them the rest of the way.  That being trans doesn't hold them back from being anything they want."

Congrats Shay, and hopefully we'll see you ripping a runway in the near future.

Arisce Wanzer's Making History

The long stylish line of trans models has led the way in breaking ground for our community not only in the modeling world, but at times through their activism on behalf of themselves and this community.

Proud to announce that for the first time in the 111 year history of the iconic Spiegel catalog, a girl like us will grace the cover of it.

Arisce Wanzer, who recently appeared as one of the stars of the reality show Strut, is the model who will be making this inevitable breakthrough.

Congratulations to her, and hope to continue seeing her do her thing in the modeling world.  It also proves once again if given an opportunity to do so, we can don anything and excel at

Yo One Million Moms, This Is What A Trans Feminine Fashion Model Looks Like

Was chuckling to myself when I saw the story in the UK based Pink News about the right wing hate group One Million Moms (actually 3500 men)  who are trying to start another failed boycott against a retailer they accuse of being too trans friendly.



H&M has a new 'She's a Lady' ad campaign featuring several diverse women of all ages and body types modeling different styles of clothing.

One of the women involved in this campaign is female Muay Thai boxing champion Fatima Pinto, who One Million Haters transphobically misgendered and attacked.

But while I'm chuckling about the loud and wrong One Million Haters reactions, this is in reality a serious issue that I, other trans people and our allies have been talking about for some time in terms of trans misogyny not just affecting trans women.

The One Milling Haters peeps were so busy focusing their faux faith based transphobic ire on Ms. Pinto that they completely missed model Hari Nef, who was also featured in the ad.

Far too often the unwoman meme is not only aimed at transgender women, bit it is aimed at cisgender women, and especially cisgender women of color like First Lady Michelle Obama, Serena Williams to demonize any woman who doesn't fit the stereotypical feminine societal mold

This also points to something else I've talked about on this blog and elsewhere in terms of not only the beauty of non-white women being demonized. it also plays into for trans women the far too often a stereotypical and media perpetuated 'that's a man' assumption of what a trans woman is or isn't supposed to look like.

Let's start with the Trans 101 basic tenet that trans women are women.  Once we start taking estrogen, doesn't take us long to look the part.  Some of us when we start hormone replacement therapy also got the genetic luck of the draw and morphed into very attractive and beautiful women.

That reality makes some of us who did get the genetic luck of the draw and are model height to get the call from the fashion world to strut the fashion runways of New York, London, Paris  Milan and Tokyo.

And FYI One Million Haters and everyone who shares their less than enlightened views about girls like us, trans women walking runways, gracing the covers of magazines or participating in multimillion dollar ad campaigns is not a new phenomenon.  

We've been doing so since the 1960's, and the long stylish line of trans models has continued into the 21st century.

FYI since y'all are woefully ignorant about the topic, here are just a few glamorous examples of what trans feminine models actually look like.

Meet the lovely and fabulous Geena Rocero.  And yes as someone who has met her, she's even more beautiful in real life.

And this is another trans model in Carmen Carrera

Another longtime trans model in Isis King

And just to rub it in some more, still another trans model in Andreja Pejic.

Noticing a pattern here?   Trans women's body types and shapes are as varied as our cis feminine counterparts, and all are beautiful in their own way.

That's why the long stylish line of trans models has been in existence since the 1960's, and will continue no matter how much unhinged ranting One Million Haters does.

Models Geena Rocero and Tracey Norman Make History On 'Harper's Bazaar India' Covers

More trans history was made as models Geena Rocero and Tracey Africa Norman appear on a groundbreaking series of Harper's Bazaar India covers for this month's issue.

In the nine versions of this cover available, Art Director Christopher Sollinger cast a different woman of color for each one of the covers while wearing a headpiece by American artist Isaac Aden.

He also casted for this cover modeling icons and new faces.

"Shooting white woman after white woman on covers does not work anymore- we need to show the women of the world that is of now",said Sollinger. "The world is changing and with this story, we wanted to be part of that global revolution."

The other women of color cast for this series of covers included fellow Americans Tyra Banks, Pyper Smith and Daisy Smith, Soo Jun Park of South Korea, Hannelore Knuts of Belgium, Cora Emmanuel from Martinique, Emanuela de Paula of Brazil, and Hind Sahli of Morocco.

Geena and Tracey made history together as the first out trans women cast for any Harper's Bazaar cover.

Said Norman about the groundbreaking Harper's Bazaar cover, the well deserved return to the spotlight 'meant the word to her.'

"For me to represent my community is such a humbling experience," said Norman, who recently returned to the modeling spotlight when Clairol asked her to come back for a new commercial  "I can't thank Christopher and Harper's Bazaar enough for allowing me to be on the cover."

Rocero said it was an honor to appear on the cover with women she'd looked up to. "Growing up in the Philippines, I used to dream about being on the cover of Harper's Bazaar."

And now sis, you've made it happen while writing another glorious chapter for the long stylish line of trans models.

I'm also happy to see that Tracey is also getting more work as a result of that new Clairol campaign.

And ESSENCE, once again, how about making amends to Tracey for getting outed at your photo shoot back in the day and giving her the opportunity to do another one?

H/T to NewNowNext.