--- ---  # Victoria's Secret Hires Openly Transgender Model Valentina Sampaio  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 5, 2019 2:45 PM UTC  Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio presents a creation from Spanish designer Miguel Marinero's Spring/Summer 2020 collection during the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Madrid on July 10, 2019\. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP) (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images) Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio presents a creation from Spanish designer Miguel Marinero's Spring/Summer 2020 collection during the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Madrid on July 10, 2019\. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP) (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)GABRIEL BOUYS—AFP/Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 5, 2019 2:45 PM UTC [Victoria’s Secret](https://time.com/5469577/halsey-victorias-secret-fashion-show-2018/) has hired its first openly transgender model, the Brazilian model, Valentina Sampaio. Sampaio announced the news via her Instagram on Thursday, where she posted a behind-the-scenes picture of herself and tagged a Victoria’s Secret official account in her caption, adding the hashtags #vspink and #campaign. On Monday, Sampaio’s agent, Erio Zanon, confirmed to [_CNN_ ](https://www.cnn.com/style/article/victorias-secret-transgender-model-intl-scli/index.html)that the model was hired by Victoria’s Secret for a campaign for its Pink line, with the campaign debuting in mid-August. On social media, Sampaio received support from a fellow Brazilian Victoria’s Secret model, Lais Ribeiro, who took to Twitter to share her excitement about the hire. > [](https://twitter.com/Lalaribeiro16/status/1157595886492536832) Sampaio’s hire follows [a controversy from 2018 involving transphobic comments from Ed Razek](https://time.com/5454534/victorias-secret-ceo-jan-singer-resigns/), the chief marketing officer of the brand’s parent company, L-Brand. Razek was widely criticized after saying that there was “no interest” for plus-size or transgender models for the annual Victoria’s Secret runway show. He later apologized for his comments. Victoria's Secret Hires Transgender Model Valentina Sampaio ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5644091/valentina-sampaio-victorias-secret-first-transgender-model/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5644091/valentina-sampaio-victorias-secret-first-transgender-model/"},"headline":"Victoria's Secret Hires Openly Transgender Model Valentina Sampaio","datePublished":"2019-08-05T14:45:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:59:46.773Z","description":"The hire follows a past transphobic controversy at the company","url":"https://time.com/5644091/valentina-sampaio-victorias-secret-first-transgender-model/","keywords":["Newsfeed","fashion","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt04604db413ac0c18/698a00e886f68e54f06ed592/valentina-sampaio-first-transgender-victorias-secret-model.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt04604db413ac0c18/698a00e886f68e54f06ed592/valentina-sampaio-first-transgender-victorias-secret-model.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FASHION-SPAIN-MADRID-MARINERO","caption":"FASHION-SPAIN-MADRID-MARINERO","creditText":"GABRIEL BOUYS—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5644091/valentina-sampaio-victorias-secret-first-transgender-model/","name":"Victoria's Secret Hires Openly Transgender Model Valentina Sampaio"}}]}] ```