Just a few weeks ago, news of Valentina Sampaio becoming the first openly trans woman to appear in a Victoria’s Secret campaign, went viral. Though many celebrated the inclusion, the decision was highly criticized, especially since their chief of marketing had previously declared that the company wasn’t interested in changing the “female fantasy” they had created (to put it in nice words).
So, although that particular case was problematic for the cause of inclusion, it doesn’t mean that others should be, and that’s the case with Teddy Quinlivan, the model and activist who has become the very first trans woman to work for Chanel.
In a very emotional Instagram post sharing a short ad for the company’s beauty line, the Bostonian model announced her collaboration, thanking the brand for not turning their backs to her after fully transitioning. She had walked two runways with them when she was, as she calls it, “living in stealth (stealth meaning I hadn’t made my trans identity public yet).”
She then talks about how she thought she would stop working with important brands after coming out and that the fact that the brand she considered a dream working with would call her back is a great step in trans-visibility.
Quinlivan was discovered in 2015 by Louis Vuitton, though she’s been modeling since she finished high school. She’s worked for a lot of important brands like Marc Jacobs, Dior, and Vera Wang. Now, though she decided to hide her identity for years out of fear of being pushed away or rejected, there was a point she had to come out not only for her own personal growth, but to end the prejudice the trans community endures.
As she argues in an essay for Elle Magazine, “fashion, in terms of social power, is the most important industry. Advertising has tremendous impact in terms of who and what we find attractive. It’s a hard sphere to penetrate. But I have.” Visibility is key, and Teddy Quinlivan understands this perfectly. It’s not only about Chanel, actually what matters is that there’s more openness in the fashion and beauty industry, and this could set an example for other industries to do their part.
As she closes her announcement, life will always hit you hard. There will be moments where you’ll want to cry your eyes out and try to escape from all the hatred, but “it’s your job to have the strength to stand up and push on, to keep fighting, Because if you give up then you will never experience the tears of triumph.”
Read more:
The Geopolitical And Economic Implications Of LGBT Inclusion
The Transgender Muse That Helped Change The Music Scene Of The 1970s
What Should Be Erased Is Transphobia, Not Transgender Rights
