Paris Vogue has announced it will feature transgender model Valentina Sampaio on the cover of its March issue, a historical first for the publication. The news was announced on Instagram, where the caption read, “This month we are proud to celebrate transgender beauty and how models like Valentina Sampaio, who is posing for her first ever Vogue cover, are changing the face of fashion and deconstructing prejudice.”
As shot by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott, Sampaio reposted the Vogue cover on her Instagram account, and wrote, “So proud and Super happyyy, merciiiii.”
Paris Vogue editor Emmanuelle Alt discovered Sampaio late last year through her assistant, who pointed out online coverage of the Brazilian model. According to Vogue, Alt had wanted to feature a transgender model on the cover and after scrolling through Sampaio’s Instagram account, immediately she knew she found the right one.
And though U.S. Vogue hasn’t yet featured a transgender model on its cover (if it had, this would be much of a story), the magazine interviewed transgender model Andreja Pejic for a feature in April 2015.
The issue hits stands on February 23, 2017.
