It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Victoria’s Secret over the past two years.

They have been accused of being outdated, out of touch, and stuck in the 90s when it comes to their branding.

Last year, the brand became infamous for the transphobic comments made by chief marketing officer Ed Ramzek.

He apologised, but the company hasn’t put a lot of effort into being more inclusive of trans models, until now.

Here’s PAPER:

Brazilian model and actress Valentina Sampaio makes history as the first trans woman to model for Victoria’s Secret.

She took to Instagram to post a behind-the-scenes look at her photoshoot for VS Pink, which is the brand’s more playful and youthful line.

Here’s that post:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Backstage click @vspink #bastidores #new #vspink #campaign #representatividade #diversity #beauty #selfie #model #life #fashion #usa #vstorm #valentinasampaio #bomdia

A post shared by Valentina Sampaio (@valentts) on Aug 1, 2019 at 8:10am PDT

The model is used to smashing through norms:

This isn’t the first time Sampaio has broken a glass ceiling in fashion. The model was also the first trans woman to grace the cover of any edition of Vogue back in 2017.

The then-20-year-old was featured in the March issue of flagship magazine Vogue Paris.

Valentina, who was assumed male at birth, was born in a fishing village in Aquiraz, Ceará. When she was eight years old, her psychologist recognised that she was transgendered. At the age of 10, she became Valentina.

“Things have happened so fast, I’ve barely had time to process and think about what all this means,” Sampaio previously told BuzzFeed News of her Vogue cover.

“I’ve realized a dream of such size I really can’t describe it.”

Now, with her Victoria’s Secret campaign, she echoes the same sentiments of being able to make her wildest dreams come true with her Instagram post caption, “Never stop dreaming genteee.”

Sampaio, however, will not be able to walk the famous annual runway show, as the brand has decided to discontinue its traditional television broadcast.

“Fashion is a business of change,” a memo from Victoria’s Secret obtained by CNBC reads. “We must evolve and change to grow. With that in mind, we have decided to re-think the traditional Victoria’s Secret Show.

Going forward we don’t believe network television is the right fit. In 2019 and beyond, we’re focusing on developing exciting and dynamic content and a new kind of event — delivered to out customers on platforms that she’s glued to… and in ways that will push the boundaries of fashion in the global digital age.”

Here’s hoping they manage to bring a little more diversity into this “event”.

Welcome to 2019, Victoria’s Secret. You’re late.

[source:paper]