America’s popular retail brand, Victoria’s Secret has come a long way in a year. The brand hired its first openly transgender model, Valentina Sampaio, less than a year after the chief marketing officer of the company, Ed Razek, said it wouldn’t feature transgender models in its fashion shows. He later apologized for the remark, which had come in an interview with Vogue.
The Brazilian model’s agent, Erio Zanon, said on Monday that Ms. Sampaio, 22, had been hired for catalog work for VS Pink, the company’s athletic line. “I confirm she will be featured in the new Pink campaign that will be released in Mid August,†Erio said in an emailed statement to Huffington Post.
“Sampaio is very happy for it and she hopes that it shall contribute to break barriers and to make a step to more inclusivity and representation for everybody,†he added.
The model also took to Instagram to wrote “Never stop dreaming”.
While Sampaio’s hiring is a step forward for inclusivity and representation, the idea seems far-fetched in Pakistan. While certain transgender personalities like Kami Sid have made a name in the modeling industry and also achieved fame as an actor, the inclusion by no means in mainstream. The opportunities are scarce and transgender people in our region are limited to behind the camera as backstage helpers or makeup artists in salons. We hope that local brands also realize the need to keep up with the times like Victoria’s Secret.
