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.