Transgender model Theodora ‘Teddy’ Quinlivan is the face of Chanel Beauty’s latest campaign.
The 25-year-old model, who publicly revealed she was transgender at New York Fashion Week in 2017, is the first openly transgender model to work for the French fashion house.
Sharing images from the new ‘Summer Look’ campaign on Instagram, Teddy said she was deeply humbled and proud to represent the trans community
“I had walked two 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,” she said.
“I thought I’d never work with the iconic house of Chanel ever again. But here I am in Chanel Beauty Advertising.”
Teddy also revealed that her appointment was a major triumph in her life which has been fraught with major difficulties.
“My whole life has been a fight,” she said.
“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 faggot, to receiving industry blowback after speaking publicly about being sexually assaulted on the job…
“This [the Chanel campaign] was a victory that made all of that shit worth it… Thank you to everyone who made this dream a reality!”
Teddy, who transitioned at 16 years old, was discovered by Louis Vuitton creative director Nicolas Ghesquièrein 2015.
Since then she has represented numerous fashion brands including Moschino, Valentino, Versace, and Dior Haute Couture.
During New York Fashion Week in September 2017, she came out as transgender in a series of videos posted to Instagram:
‘My name is Teddy. I’m transgender. I remember living my whole life as male, but feeling like I was playing a part,’ she said.
“I always knew I was female like just in my soul, in my heart in my brain. I kind of knew I had to pretend to be male to appease like everybody else.
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