Valentina Sampaio and Emira D’Spain were the first transgender models to participate in the new and rebranded Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The models strutted their stuff on the runway, along with legendary supermodels like Tyra Banks, Adriana Lima, and Kate Moss.
In 2018, the former chief marketing officer of Victoria’s Secret told Vogue that he didn’t believe “transsexuals” should participate in the fashion show because “the show is a fantasy” and people didn’t want to see this.
There’s no doubt that the fashion industry has placed impossible and narrow beauty standards on women. But these days, women like Valentina Sampaio and Emira D’Spain are paving the way as trailblazers. Here are some fascinating facts about them you should know!
Facts about Valentina Sampaio
1. Valentina is Brazilian. She was born in a small fishing village in Aquiraz, Ceará, to a schoolteacher mother and a fisherman father.
2. Valentina’s nationality is Brazilian, but she has a mix of Dutch, Native Brazilian, and African roots.
3. Valentina’s psychologist identified the model as trans when she was eight years old, but Sampaio only started going by the name Valentina when she was 12 years old.
4. Her parents were always proud of her, and she didn’t experience much bullying in school since, as she said in an NYT interview, “they already saw me as a little girl.”
5. Valentina initially went to school to study architecture but dropped out at the age of 16 to pursue a degree in fashion instead. While she was at school for that, she was discovered by a makeup artist and signed to a modeling agency in São Paulo as a result.
6. Her beauty secrets are drinking lots of water, wearing sunscreen daily, and using hyaluronic serum, as well as doing yoga regularly.
7. Valentina was fired from a modeling job in 2014 for identifying as transgender because of conservative people who worked for the brand and didn’t support her.
8. In 2017, Valentina made history as the first trans model to appear on a Vogue Paris cover. Later on, she posed as a cover girl for Vogue Brasil and Vogue Germany.
9. In 2020, she became the first trans model to grace the pages of Sport Illustrated annual swimsuit issue.
10. She is a strong advocate for transgender equality and has fought against Brazil’s discrimination of trans individuals, using her platform to champion trans rights and promote inclusivity.
11. Valentina first started working for Victoria’s Secret as the brand’s first trans model in the summer of 2019.
Facts about Emira D’Spain
1. Emira D’Spain is American but was born in Dubai and raised in Dallas, Texas. She later moved to NYC.
2. In 2022, Emira became the first Black trans model to work with Victoria’s Secret.
3. She experienced bullying as a child and also struggled with her identity as a Black trans woman, growing up in a conservative environment that wasn’t accepting of her.
4. Ever since Emira was young, she was passionate about makeup and beauty as well as trying out different looks.
5. She attended NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she shaped her love for beauty, fashion, and media and turned it into a career.
6. Besides being a model, Emira is a popular beauty influencer on TikTok. She’s widely praised for her skincare content, “Get Ready With Me” videos, and makeup tutorials, but she has also amassed a large following because of her empowering, inspiring messages about self-love.
7. Emira frequently captions her videos on social media with the hashtag #transandproud.
8. In 2022, she collaborated with Victoria’s Secret on a Valentine’s Day guide, “Single Girl’s Guide to the Perfect Valentine’s Day.” In it, she treats herself to a day out in NYC, buying herself flowers, diamond earrings, and lunch.
9. Besides Victoria’s Secret, a few of the high-profile brands Emira has worked with include Dior, Fenty Beauty, and NARS cosmetics.
10. She uses her platform to inspire young trans women and men (especially people of color) to get involved in the worlds of fashion and beauty since attitudes are evolving. She told USA Today that she hopes her work with Victoria’s Secret “paves the way for those after me.”
11. She credits Valentina Sampaio for opening doors for her, as Sampaio was the first transgender Victoria’s Secret model in 2019.