The first openly transgender Victoria’s Secret model fired back at critics after she made her historic runway debut at the revamped iconic fashion show on Tuesday.
Valentina Sampaio stepped out in the lingerie extravaganza at the Duggal Greenhouse in Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York City alongside fellow transgender model Alex Consani.
It marked the first time transgender women were ever featured in the iconic show and not all fans supported the decision.
The Brazilian model said walking the runway at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show after its six-year absence was “a dream come true” and wouldn’t let the intense backlash bring down the moment.
‘It was a dream come true, one that so many people told me would be impossible for me to ever realize and I just did,” Sampaio told TMZ. ‘It makes me feel seen, accepted and valued for who I am as a person, as a professional.
“It’s collectively a step forward in celebrating the rights of my community, to live and work with dignity.”
“We are here. We always have been here. And we always will be here.”
In 2019, Victoria’s Secret hired Sampaio as its first “Angel,” a moniker the company removed in 2021 in an attempt to redefine its image. It was the same year Victoria’s Secret canceled the annual fashion show over outrage and a series of controversies.
Hours before the show in 2018, former chief marketing officer Ed Razek told Vogue that transgender and plus-sized models wouldn’t be cast because the event is supposed to be a “fantasy.”
He eventually apologized for his “insensitive” comment about transgender models and retired nearly a year later.
In 2021, the brand emerged from the pandemic with a “reset” and started featuring curvier models and slimmed-down shelves.
Tuesday’s catwalk featured Ashley Graham, Paloma Elsesser, Kai Soleil, Devyn Garcia and Jill Kortleve whose sizes range from 8 – 16.
Legendary supermodels Tyra Banks, Gigi Hadid and Alessandra Ambrosio also walked in the show on Tuesday. TMZ reports that Gisele Bündchen was invited to walk but she declined the offer.
The fashion show was Sampaio’s second time making history with Victoria’s Secret. In 2019, she was the first transgender model featured in an ad campaign. Sampaio is also the first out trans person to model for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
FilmMagic
Sampaio was born in the village of Aquiraz in Northeastern Brazil. According to an interview with Business Insider, the model said a psychologist identified her as transgender at eight years old, but she didn’t start going by the name Valentina and identifying as a female until 12.
The model’s big break was when she appeared on the cover of Vogue Paris with the caption “Transgender Beauty.”
Her agency, Lions Management, said that was the first time Vogue featured a transgender model on a worldwide cover and since then, she has worked with major brands like Marc Jacobs Beauty, Dior Beauty and H&M.