Less than a week after rumours started circulating that the 2019 Victoria’s Secret show was to be cancelled, the brand appears to have hired its first transgender model. Meet the beautiful Valentina Sampaio.
23-year-old Sampaio announced the news on Instagram by sharing a behind-the-scene picture of her shooting for VS Pink.
Less than a year ago, Victoria’s Secret’s chief marketing officer Ed Razek faced backlash for his comments about transgender models, specifying why they wouldn’t be included in VS shows. He said “Should you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy,”
Razek subsequently apologised for his remarks but, for many, the damage was already done.
“My remark regarding the inclusion of transgender models in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show came across as insensitive. I apologize,” said Razek. “To be clear, we absolutely would cast a transgender model for the show. We’ve had transgender models come to castings… And like many others, they didn’t make it… But it was never about gender. I admire and respect their journey to embrace who they really are.”
This is great progress but the huge VS 2019 isn’t going ahead, which is a shame, because I love watching all the angels strut their stuff on the catwalk. In fact, I adore Victoria’s Secret undies more than any other lingerie brand.
The fashion world is still not 100% sure what’s going on with this year’s show, but let’s not allow all that noise get in the way of congratulating Valentina on her kickass gig – we’re definitely looking forward to seeing more from this bombshell.
