Transgender people in fashion industry

some resources:

“Transgender Fashion Model Lea T. “ from The Oprah Winfrey Show :

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Transgender-Fashion-Model-Lea-T-Video

Lea T and Kate Moss:

Teri Toye (the first transgender model in public manner):

Fashion industry has used transgender people models since 1970s

. However, at that time these models were not accepted by the public. For example, April Ashley was a very popular model in the beginning of 1960s. However, after she was discovered that she was transgender, she was abandoned by the world. Even her film was forbidden to display. The society at that time could not tolerate transgender people.

Nowadays, fashion industry not only accepts transgender people but also appreciates their faded beauty. In 2011 London fashion week, there were several transsexual models in the catwalk. One can hardly distinguish who is woman and who is man. The faded sex role is a fashion trend led by a male-to-female model, Lea T. In 2010, she acted a fashion advertisement for Givenchy with several male models. The advertisement made a big stir in the fashion world. Just after the advertisement was published, the agent of Lea T received over 400 requests of interviewing. Then she became the cover girl for “Vogue” for two times and even was a guest on Oprah’s talk show.

This change in fashion industry challenges the typical gender role constructed by society. As more and more transgender people show in media, society will not consider they are “queer”, instead consider them as normal. Who knows, one day there may be a third gender. In addition, as a transgender people’s magazine “Candy” says “Nowadays, women and men have more chances to change their bodies than ever, no matter by doing a surgery or applying cosmetics. People have more control to their appearances.” Some people may be unused to see transgender people on the screen. But for a long term, it is beneficial because it provides the society another angle to consider “gender” and people are encouraged to be who they really are.