A Star Ascendant
Every so often fashion takes a stab at diversity.
Either there is a highly publicized spread of a curvy model above a size 4 that garners praise on Coco Perez. Or an issue of Italian Vogue featuring all black models. Or, on a more bottom-feeding level of the industry, a reality show contestant who is either kind of blind (but with fierce icy blue eyes) or a candidate for a bipolar disorder national awareness campaign, given her erratic behavior and weave-pulling proclivities.
The first example is rather patronizing, the second at least beautifully executed, and the third just exploitative, even if most of us wouldn’t pass up an America's Next Top Model marathon were we stuck in a Holiday Inn Express hotel room.
So why am I obsessed with Lea T? She is transgender. And therefore a gimmick? The accusation has been thrown around on the web a lot lately. But it's also missing the point. From an aesthetic perspective her gender identity is secondary.
Beauty shots by the Givenchy model Lea T
Perhaps the allure of Lea T, 28, is that she ascended to top-flight modeling not because of a reality-show contest, but largely thanks to one tastemaker’s extraordinary eye: I imagine Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci, who once employed Lea as an assistant, didn’t see her gender identity as a prime selling point, the way David LaChapelle may see Amanda Lepore. As the Guardian wrote, Tisci encouraged Lea to express her true femininity, not distort it.
The Internet has been abuzz yet again for several days now that Lea T has landed her first cover. It's for Lurve. She's Givenchy-clad in a gorgeous shot by Carlotta Manaigo, easily one of the most evocative photographers in the business. It's certainly a reputable fashion magazine, though one that you may not have on your coffee table at the moment.
Before that Lea appeared nude in French Vogue — another testament of the advantages of being Carine Roitfeld over Anna Wintour (unlikely you’ll see that photo in a September issue of American Vogue with Halle Berry gracing the cover).
The result is always mesmerizing, beginning with Lea’s appearance in the fall Givenchy ad campaign. Even in a vulnerable, inexpressive shot, Lea has the ability to avoid appearing vacant on film — a tall order that many models stumble upon attempting.
\
Lea T in the Givenchy fall 2010 ad camapign
With this newfound fame has come Lea’s candor of being a high-profile transgender fashion model, however. And it’s often painful to read. In interviews she’s expressed the mountains transgender individuals have to move in order to live in society. Her father, a Brazilian soccer star and World Cup veteran, refuses to acknowledge Lea’s transition, according to a Rio de Janiero newspaper. "We transsexuals are born and grow up alone,” Lea said in a recent interview. “After the operation we are born again, but once again alone. And we die alone. It is the price we pay."
But it shouldn’t be. (There is so little love in the world, wrote Michael Cunningham in The Hours.) We wish you the best, Lea T. You inspire us.