Fashion
The rise of the trans-supermodel: a look back
The next big thing: Lea T-
Lea T. is a big deal. After a Givenchy print campaign and a couple of magazine covers, she just made her runway debut at Sao Paolo's Fashion Week. A large part of her fame stems from the fact that she was born a male. Givenchy creative director Ricardo Tisci encouraged the Brazilian native to explore her feminine side, and at 28, she began her medical transition to a woman last year with hormone therapy. She also posed nude for a spread in French Vogue. Lea’s first runway walk through the doorway of super-model-dom comes on the heels of the first-ever report on what it's like to be transgender in America. In a survey of over 6,000 transgender U.S. citizens, the National Center for Transgender Equality found discrimination in "nearly every system and institution" in America, according to ABC News. But fashion seems to be the exception, in part because of the international nature of the industry, and in part because it's powered by shock tactics. But there’s also the possibility that gender-bending lends itself to a statuesque beauty who's ideal for modeling. It presents
