Since opening up about her trans identity in 2017, model Teddy Quinlivan has continued stomping down the runways for the likes of Louis Vuitton, Moschino, and Maison Margiela. Now, Quinlivan has made history, debuting as the first openly trans model to front a beauty campaign for Chanel.
Posting on her Instagram account, the model shared her feelings about the achievement and her struggles to make it to that point. “My whole life has been a fight,” she says. “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 was a victory that made all of that shit worth it.
Quinlivan’s campaign is another step on the journey to a more diverse beauty industry. She follows in the footsteps of fellow trans models Andreja Peijić – who fronted a campaign for Make Up For Ever – and Victoria’s Secret model Valentina Sampaio – who appeared in a Marc Jacobs Beauty campaign.
