Valentina Sampaio, Victoria’s Secret’s first trans model
The same week that it was known that the world's best-known lingerie firm, Victoria's Secret, stopped organizing its famous annual parade because of the lack of diversity, it has decided to take a hit.
Valentina Sampaio has become the first trans person to be part of the firm's universe. She herself posted on her Instagram account a photograph in the backstage of the photo shoot for the new campaign of the Pink Victoria's Secret line. The 22-year-old Brazilian model wrote on her networks. "Never stop dreaming, people. Life is amazing. He wants more, he hates less. Hate is useless, so don't waste your time with it."
The same week that it was known that the world's best-known lingerie firm, Victoria's Secret, stopped organizing its famous annual parade because of the lack of diversity, it has decided to take a hit. Valentina Sampaio has become the first trans person to be part of the firm's universe. She herself posted on her Instagram account a photograph in the backstage of the photo shoot for the new campaign of the Pink Victoria's Secret line. The 22-year-old Brazilian model wrote on her networks. "Never stop dreaming, people. Life is amazing. He wants more, he hates less. Hate is useless, so don't waste your time with it."
Laverne Cox, one of the most important figures of the transsexual community in the United States, shared her enthusiasm in one of Sampaio's publications: "'Wow, it was time!" She also went through the comments of Sampaio her new partner of Victoria's Secret, and also Brazilian model, Lais Ribeiro: "The first transsexual photographed for Victoria's Secret! It makes me very happy!".
Sampaio's hiring comes months after the lingerie firm faced severe criticism over statements by Victoria's Secret marketing manager Ed Rezek, who spoke of the reason why Victoria's Secret did not hire plus size models or transsexuals: "And why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It's a 42-minute entertainment special. That's what it is. It's the only one in the world of its kind and any other brand in the world would take it instantly, including the competitors that criticize us. "
