“She stands at 170 centimeters with azure blue, almond-shaped eyes, perfect curves and a delicately-rounded chest. When she arrived in the studio wearing jeans and a simple t-shirt, Valentina Sampaio, this issue’s cover girl, had beauty striking enough to stun on the cover of Vogue. She is the absolute equal of Gisele, Daria, Edie or Anna. Apart from one small detail: Valentina, the femme fatale, was born a boy. It’s a detail one would prefer not to have to mention, a ubiquitous detail in these women’s lives that they didn’t ask for and a detail one imagines they want to forget. But Valentina is on the cover of Vogue this month, not just for her looks or her sparkling personality, but because despite herself she embodies an age-old, arduous struggle to be recognized and not to be perceived as something Other, a gender exile. Valentina is the glamorous standard-bearer for a cause that’s already active, standing side by side with Caitlyn Jenner, Anohni (from Anthony and the Johnsons), the Wachowskis, Lea T, the charismatic muse of Riccardo Tisci, and Caroline Cossey, the incandescent bond girl from ‘For Your Eyes Only’. In a post-gendered world which more and more designers are highlighting on their runways, Trans people, the ultimate symbols of a rejection of conformity, are icons that Vogue supports and chooses to celebrate. Anohni’s Oscar nomination, Caitlyn Jenner’s being awarded Woman of the Year by Glamour US and the success of the television series ‘Transparent’ about a family man who decides to transition, all point to significant progress and a message a hope. But only when a transgendered person poses on the front cover of a fashion magazine and it is no longer necessary to write an editorial on the subject will we know that the battle is won.” writes Emmanuelle Alt, editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris in her March 2017 editorial.
Vogue Paris n°975, on news stands February 23
Valentina Sampaio on the cover of Vogue Paris March 2017*,* photographed by Mert & Marcus
VALENTINA
Photography: Mert & Marcus
Styled by: Emmanuelle Alt
VALENTINA
Photography: Mert & Marcus
Styled by: Emmanuelle Alt