Meet The Latest Hot Supermodel Off Brazil apos;s Production Line... But Can You Guess What apos;s Different About Her

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Meet the latest hot supermodel off Brazil's production line...
but can you guess what's different about her?
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Created: 16:33 GMT, 27 July 2010






</a> Fashion muse: TRAVESTIS RJ Transgender model Lea T starred in the last Givenchy campaign

As the muse of Givenchy's creative director Riccardo Tisci, supermodel Lea T has graced the catwalk at the label's recent Haute Couture show, and stars in its new campaign.

But the Brazilian beauty, who is currently the toast of the fashion world, has been making headlines for more than just her looks.




The 28-year-old was actually born Leandro Cerezo - male - and is undergoing hormone replacement therapy in preparation for a full sex-change.

Lea, whose father is former footballer Toninho Cerezo, has now made further waves in the fashion industry by posing naked in French Vogue.




She also appears in the current issue of Italian Vanity Fair, in which she describes how she struggled with her identity, but always felt feminine.

She describes how, even in her previous career as a male model, casting directors would confuse her with the female models.

'I had a big Afro similar to Michael Jackson's in his Jackson Five days,' she said.


'When I walked into a room for a casting, there would always be someone who would say: "The girls' casting is that way!"'

But her transition from man to woman has not been straightforward.

She described how she was taunted while walking down the street in Italy, and that the hormone treatment had left her feeling 'constantly premenstrual'.

Tisci first spotted Lea's potential when she was appointed as his personal assistant.

He said: 'Lea has innate elegance - she's a true goddess!'



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‘She's always been very feminine - super-fragile, very aristocratic,' he told industry title WWD. ‘She's part of the family,' he added.
Feminine: Lea, second right, was born Leandro Cerezo, but is now undergoing hormone replacement therapy in preparation for a full sex-change operation

The new Givenchy campaign, which is shot by leading fashion photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, also features top models Mariacarla Boscono, Malgosia Bela and Joan Smalls.

While it is rare for a transgender model to break into high fashion as Lea has done, she is not the first to have enjoyed success in the industry.

Last year transgender actress and model Patricia Araujo got a standing ovation at Rio de Janiero Fashion Week, and was described as the event's most spectacular model.
Part of the family: Lea, second right, met Riccardo Tisci when she was appointed as his personal assistant