First transgender model on French Vogue cover

Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio will be the first transgender model to grace the cover of a French magazine, according to NDTV.

The 22-year-old will feature as a ‘femme fatale’ on the cover of the Vogue Paris’s March edition.

"Beyond her evident physical qualities and her sparkling personality, (Sampaio) embodies... a long and painful fight against being perceived as a 'gender exile'," writes Vogue Paris Editor-in-Chief Emmanuelle Alt, in her editor's letter.

“Vogue supports and chooses to celebrate transgender people in a ‘post-gender world’”, Alt continues.

Alt goes on to pay homage to other transgender figures such as Lea T, muse of Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci.

"The day when a transsexual poses for a magazine cover and it will be no longer necessary to write an editorial on the subject, we will know that the fight has been won."

Transgender women have made recent inroads into the spotlight.

‘Orange is the New Black’ star Laverne Cox was featured on the cover of Time magazine in July 2014.

Former US decathlon star Caitlyn Jenner came out as transgender on Vanity Fair’s June 2015 cover.

In December 2016, National Geographic’s cover story was titled “Gender Revolution” and depicted nine-year-old transgender girl Avery Jackson on the cover.

L’Oreal Paris has recently selected transgender model and actress Hari Nef to model its latest foundation cream in a global campaign.

The March edition of Vogue Paris will hit newsstands on Feb 23 and feature Sampaio on the cover over the title ‘Transgender Beauty’.