Transsexual Modelmania
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2008/09/15/02606.html (http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2008/09/15/02606.html)
Brianna Austin
9/15/2008
While the appearance of a transgender model is a first for ANTP, it is not by any stretch a first for the fashion industry. Might be ready? Hello? There have been transsexual models on the world stage of fashion for nearly a half a century. Some of the top names, but certainly not the only names, include socialite April Ashley in the 1960s, Amanda Lear and Caroline "Tula" Cossey in the 70's, and Terri Toye and Lauren Foster in the 80s/90s -- all of whom worked with the biggest designers of their time on the runway and in the leading fashion magazines – including Vogue.
And there are countless other trans-models on the local levels as well, like Teryl-Lynn Foxx, who in the 90's walked the runway many times for Saks Fifth Ave, or Hiloudaki, the print model in Greece who in 2000 was chosen Greek Woman of the Year. So why does the media treat every new story with a transsexual in it as though it were something new? "Freak factor," Lauren Foster told me the other night in a telephone conversation. "America loves a circus, and we, transsexuals, are still, unfortunately, part of the side show. "