Transgender Victoria's Secret model Valentina Sampaio hits back at haters after show debut

Transgender Victoria's Secret model Valentina Sampaio has hit back at online backlash after she walked at the revived fashion show this week.

Sampaio, 27, who became the brand's first openly transgender model in 2019, also walked alongside fellow transgender star Alex Consani , 21, in a historic first for the show - but the show was slammed by fans .

She told TMZ : 'It was a dream come true, one that so many people told me would be impossible for me to ever realize and I just did.

'It makes me feel seen, accepted and valued for who I am as a person, as a professional

'It's collectively a step forward in celebrating the rights of my community, to live and work with dignity.'

'We are here. We always have been here. And we always will be here.

'I'd like to see more brands embrace diversity and representation.'

Speaking to People, she said that becoming Victoria's Secret 's first trans model is something she will 'cherish for a lifetime'.

She said: 'Today, the Victoria's Secret family has shown the world that being trans is just as exceptional and beautiful as anyone else on that runway.

'Inclusivity is crucial to the world we're building, and I'm honoured to walk with pride, love and the hope of inspiring the next generation.'

Sampaio was born in a fishing village in Aquiraz, Brazil, and said she was eight years old when a psychologist identified her as transgender, according to Business Insider.

However, she did not start calling herself Valentina until she was 12.

She told the New York Times that she 'always felt like a girl,' adding that her father, who is a fisherman, and her mother, who is a teacher, were 'were always supportive and are very proud' of her choice.

Sampaio was studying fashion when she was discovered by a makeup artist and signed by a modelling agency based in São Paulo.

But it wasn't always easy to come across work, as some clients refused to hire her because of her transgender identity.

In 2017, she appeared on the front cover of Vogue Paris Entitled 'Transgender Beauty'. It was the first Vogue cover worldwide to ever feature a transgender model, according to her agency, the Lions Management.

Sampaio has since worked with big brands such as Moschino, H&M, Balmain, L'Oreal, Marc Jacobs Beauty, and Dior Beauty.

She has also appeared in magazines such as British Vogue, Vogue Brasil, Vogue Germany, Vogue Taiwan, Harper's Bazaar Spain, Out Magazine, Vanity Fair Italia, and Elle France.

She was also the first trans model to appear in Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue.

The event has been seen by some as a far cry from the event's heyday, when outrageous walks and outfits dominated the fashion world for weeks after appearing on the show - before the company was hit by scandals including claims of a 'toxic' workplace culture.

Victoria's Secret has also seen sales slide, with critics suggesting that moves towards more 'inclusivity' in recent years - including using plus-sized models - have failed to appeal.

It comes three years after the lingerie brand's controversial body-positive rebrand in 2021.

Victoria's Secret's iconic Angels were replaced by 'ambassadors' such as soccer star Megan Rapinoe - and the company axed its long-time CEO in wake of falling sales and a bombshell exposé that accused the company of misogyny, sexual harassment and bullying.

The company was founded in 1977 by US businessman Roy Raymond, who set up a small chain of boudoir lingerie shops.

Five years later he sold the firm to clothing magnate Les Wexner for $1million – a fraction of its current value. Raymond later took his own life by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

He had chosen the name Victoria after Queen Victoria, thinking it sounded refined, and added Secret to refer to what was hidden under the clothes.

Eventually, hundreds of stores opened coast to coast, but it was the glitzy launch of Victoria's Secret's first blatantly sexy catwalk show at the Plaza Hotel in New York in 1995 which made the difference.

Broadcast on network TV to 185 countries, millions tuned in to see supermodels including Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, Tyra Banks and Karen Mulder.

But eventually the tide began to turn in recent years when the event was judged to look like a relic of the past in the #MeToo era.

It was further plunged into controversy when marketing chief Ed Razek came under fire for saying that the firm would not cast plus-sized or 'transsexual' models because the show was meant to be a 'fantasy'.

His statement got the brand in trouble and led to them cancelling the show in 2019 - the same year he made the comments and resigned.

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Victoria's Secret turned to promoting diversity by including larger models Paloma Elsesser and Ali Tate-Cutler in their campaigns.

They also hired Valentina Sampaio, their first transgender model, to star in their new VS Pink campaign after Razek left.

And the lingerie giant's parent company L Brands confirmed in November 2019 that its annual show would not take place - with the decision being part of a move to 'evolve the messaging of [the company],' Fortune reported at the time.

Purchases by women aged 18 to 49 had been declining for several years prior to the move - but the firm has been hoping the return of the show will help boost fortunes.

Performers at previous shows, before it was cancelled, included pop stars such as Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Harry Styles and Ariana Grande.