Victoria’s Secret has signed its first ever transgender model less than a year after an executive at the lingerie firm was criticized for making alleged transphobic remarks.
Brazilian cover girl Valentina Sampaio, 22, made the announcement on her Instagram page Thursday night and posted behind-the-scenes photos of her photoshoot for Victoria Secret’s Pink lingerie line.
‘Backstage click,’ Sampaio wrote in the caption of one photo.
‘Never stop dreaming [people],’ read another post, which included the hashtag ‘#diversity’.
The green-eyed bombshell is already used to breaking down barriers in the fashion world. She became the first transwoman to grace the cover of Vogue in 2017.
Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio, 22, announced on her Instagram page Thursday night that she is the first transgender model to be hired by Victoria’s Secret
Sampaio is the daughter of a Brazilian fisherman and a teacher who previously said she was never a victim of ant-transgender discrimination growing up
The milestone is a major turn for the American retailer whose parent company, L-Brands, took heat last year after one of its executives made alleged transphobic remarks.
Chief Marketing Officer Ed Razek told Vogue in November that trans and plus size models weren’t right for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show.
‘If you’re asking if we’ve considered putting a transgender model in the show or looked at putting a plus-size model in the show, we have,’ Razek told the magazine.
‘I don’t think we can be all things to all customers. It’s a specialty business. It isn’t a department store… We market to who we sell to, and we don’t market to the whole world. … ‘I don’t think we should [have trans models]. The [fashion] show is fantasy. It’s a 42-minute entertainment special.’
Those comments led to a barrage of criticism from celebrities like Rihanna and peer competitors like Aerie and Third Love, prompting Razek to apologize for his remarks just days after they were published, Business Insider reported.
Sampaio was the first transwoman to appear on Vogue Magazine’s cover in 2017
Victoria Secret has had years of declining sales and has been criticized for not being inclusive of plus-size and transgender models
So far Sampaio hasn’t commented on Razek’s comments.
Growing up, the 22-year-old says she was never a victim of anti-trans discrimination, she told Brazil’s Diario do Nordeste newspaper.
She said her mother, a teacher, her father, a fisherman, always respected her chosen identity.
‘At age eight, my mother took me to a psychologist. At that time, I already loved being around girls. I felt like one of them, and I ha a collection of dolls,’ Sampaio said.
‘The psychologist understood at the time that I was transgender. Twelve years old, I started to call myself Valentina, a name I heard once and I thought was beautiful.’
L Brands Chief Marketing Officer Ed Razek told the Vogue in November that trans and plus size models weren’t right for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, which was cancelled this year
Fellow Brazilian Victoria Secret Angel Lais Ribeiro was one of the first to congratulate Sampaio on social media.
‘First transgender to shoot with Vs! This make me so happy!’ Ribeiro tweeted Saturday morning.
Recent annual sales figures for Victoria’s Secret showed the company was losing touch with its consumer base. In February, the company announced it was closing up to 53 stores in the U.S. during an investor call where L-Brands leaders declared ‘everything was on the table’ for the brand.
‘There are no constraints. We are not financially constrained, and we’ve got a lot of different things that we have and can consider,’ an executive declared.
The once-popular Victoria’s Secret fashion show has been cancelled this year.