Victoria’s Secret reportedly ‘hires Valentina Sampaio’ as first openly transgender model

‘Never stop dreaming,’ model writes on Instagram

(Getty Images)

Valentina Sampaio has reportedly become Victoria’s Secret’s first openly transgender model.

On Thursday, Sampaio shared a photograph on Instagram which shows her sitting on a chair in a dressing gown.

The Brazilian model tagged Victoria’s Secret’s Pink lingerie line in the picture and the caption, adding hashtags including ”#campaign”, “vspink” and “diversity”.

A day later, Sampaio shared a close-up video of her face on Instagram, using the same hashtags in the caption and writing, ”Never stop dreaming gente”.

Many people have interpreted the 22-year-old’s posts to mean she is taking part in a campaign for the lingerie label, which would make her the first openly transgender model to do so.

“Wow finally!” Orange Is The New Black star Laverne Cox commented on Instagram.

“First transgender to shoot with VS! This makes me so happy!” tweeted Victoria’s Secret model Lais Ribeiro.

In November 2018, the chief marketing officer of Victoria’s Secret came under fire when he expressed his belief that transgender models should not star in the brand’s runway shows.

“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,” Ed Razek told Vogue Runway.

Following the backlash he received online, Razek issued an apology.

“My remark regarding the inclusion of transgender models in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show came across as insensitive,” he said in a statement released on Twitter by the brand.

“I apologise. 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.”

In February 2017, Sampaio became the first openly transgender model to be featured on the cover of a Vogue magazine when she graced the cover of Vogue Paris.

The model later appeared on the covers of Brazilian Vogue and German Vogue.

Victoria’s Secret has been contacted for comment.

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