Last month, Riccardo Tisci added another layer of buzz to the mix following the unveiling of his latest Mert and Marcus-helmed Givenchy advert for fall. The designer’s fit model and longtime personal assistant, Lea T., was featured, alongside the likes of Joan Smalls and Mariacarla Boscono. Lea–lithe, delicate, and at least as striking as her peers–also happens to be transgender. Her inclusion in Tisci’s lineup shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone following sartorial or pop culture these days. In fact, signs point to faces (and bodies) like Lea T.’s becoming the wave of the future. For her part, the twentysomething, part-Brazilian Lea T. is exotic, supremely stylish on and off camera, and has ambitions beyond the modeling world (Tisci told WWD that she’ll be studying veterinary medicine in Milan). Regardless of whether she remains a fixture in the high fashion world, Lea T. will be regarded as a groundbreaker. Paradoxically perhaps, she will also be considered emblematic of a natural progression already in the works.- JC Report
