Chanel Hires Transgender Model for Its Beauty Campaign

Teddy Quinlivan has made history, debuting as the first openly transgender model to lead Chanel Beauty‘s advertising campaign. The model and activist took to Instagram to  express her excitement over the news, posting a video and image from the campaign. She also shared a heartfelt message about the importance of Chanel hiring her.

I am the first openly trans person to work for the house of Chanel, and I am deeply humbled and proud to represent my community. – said Teddy via Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

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?CHANEL BEAUTY? -I find I don’t cry anymore when things are sad, but isn’t it interesting when we shed tears in moments of triumph. This was one of those triumphant cry moments for me. My whole life has been a fight. From being bullied at school consistently, kids threatening to kill me and going into graphic detail how they were going to do it, my own father beating me and calling me a fagot, to receiving industry blowback after speaking publicly about being sexually assaulted on the job… This was a victory that made all of that shit worth it. I had walked 2 shows for Chanel while I was living in stealth ( stealth meaning I hadn’t made my trans identity public yet) and when I came out I knew I’d stop working with some brands, I thought I’d never work with the iconic house of Chanel ever again. But here I am in Chanel Beauty Advertising. I am the first openly trans person to work for the house of Chanel, and I am deeply humbled and proud to represent my community. The world will kick you down, spit on you, and tell you you’re worthless. It’s your job to have the strength to stand up and push on, to keep fighting, Because if you give up then you will never experience the tears of triumph. Thank you to everyone who made this dream a reality! @nicolaskantor @shazmakeup @sebastienrichard1 @casadevallbelen

A post shared by Theodora Quinlivan (@teddy_quinlivan) on Aug 26, 2019 at 9:20am PDT

Since opening up about her identity, Quinlivan worked for world renowned brands such as Maison Margiela, Louis Vuitton, Chloe to name a few, and covered a number of well-known fashion magazines.