lea t

She's already a muse to Givenchy, and now the global beauty brand has signed her for a series of campaigns.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court deemed the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. What a way to set off the weekend’s Pride celebrations! With the fanfare, comes the fashion, an open playground for redefinition, expression and outlandish style. There’s sure to be rainbow regalia, wigs, glitter, leather, heels and muscle tees galore. It prompted me to think about high fashion’s relationship to queer style. To outsiders, it seems fashion’s kings are gay male designers, the fabulous creators of straight female threads. I started to wonder about labels and designers outside of this well-known dichotomy.

Benetton ads are always thought-provoking though they rarely make us think about actually shopping there. Until now.

If there's a formula for creating an ad campaign with shock value, then Philipp Plein has mastered it. Headline-making transgendered model Lea T? Check. Two dudes (who appear to be related to each other) making out? Check. A Delevingne? Check. Terry Richardson? Double check.

Following her fairly recent gender reassignment surgery, the fashion world's most prominent (and gorgeous) transgender model Lea T.'s career is still going strong. She popped up on the last day of Milan Fashion Week yesterday, opening and closing Philipp Plein.

Lea T. took to the runway in São Paulo Saturday night in celebration of Elle Brazil's 24th anniversary--but her turn on the catwalk marked an impor

Pretty boy (maybe the prettiest boy?) Andrej Pejic is undoubtedly one of the top models of 2011. He's worked for some of the best names in the biz but he's not resting on his laurels. He sat down with Vogue UK to talk inspiration, the inevitable comparisons to transgender model Lea T, and which photographers he'd love to work with next.

GMHC - FASHION FORWARD 2011 [60 sec. w credits] from Jonathan Turner on Vimeo. To promote the annual GMHC Fashion Forward fundraiser event, 11 models

Images from Brazilian swim label Blue Man's latest campaign featuring transsexual model Lea T. have just been released on Made in Brazil blog. Shot by Terry Richardson, the campaign features a gorgeous, tanned Lea T, clad in one of the label's lace-up one-pieces. The campaign also features Marlon Teixeira horsing around with another male model--though there's no sign yet of the two kissing, something else we were looking forward to seeing in the ads. What we like most about the ads, is that they embrace Lea T for what she is: A gorgeous, talented model.

At the VMAs last night, Lady Gaga spent the entire evening as her "male counterpart" Jo Calderone (which she first broke out on the September 2010 Vogue Hommes Japan cover, left) vehemently refusing to break character. Perhaps she felt she'd exhausted all womenswear options? Ran out of Versace? Couldn't get to the costume store because of Irene? (I'm done now). Whatever the reason, it made us think of some other famous gender-bending moments in fashion. Take a peek at who passed the best as the opposite sex (hint: there's one designer who really loves his drag).

Transsexual model Lea. T's supermodel star keeps rising. The Brazilian model has cornered the high fashion market landing editorials in Vogue Paris, walking for Givenchy, covering LOVE magazine (liplocked with Kate Moss as well as a solo cover), and now her success has gone mainstream. Lea T. became a household name following a compelling appearance on Oprah, and now she's landed a swimwear campaign for one of Brazil's biggest swimwear lines. Made in Brazil blog captured none other than Terry Richardson shooting Lea T. and a bevy of male models for Brazilian swim label Blue Man at the beach in Ipanema. Lea T. will also walk in the Blue Man show tomorrow at Fashion Rio, marking her first runway appearance in swim. To our knowledge, it's the first time a transgendered model has featured in a major swim campaign.

Gaga Goes Ginger on the Cover of Rolling Stone: More redhead! It's an epidemic! Gaga is now sporting a lovely strawberry blond reminiscent of Blake Lively's new locks. Quite the difference from her last cover, hm? {Rolling Stone} CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and Tiffany Create Jewelry Designer Grant: Tiffany has given CFDA $1 million. Part of that money will go to a one-off designer grant. Applications have been sent to previous nominees of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund who specialize in jewelry design. The grant, worth $250,000, will go to whomever shows the best creative vision for their brand's future {CFDA} Listen to This Sweet Remix of Rolling in the Deep: Fashion industry darling Adele's song Rolling in the Deep is everywhere lately--DJ sets, runways, play lists--and now Jamie xx has jumped on the bandwagon, producing a Major Lazer-esque super dancey beat. Check it out: {Pitchfork}

moreFashion has always been sex-centric, but now it really seems like lip-locking is en vogue. From Love's issue five cover to Jean Paul Gaultier's SS

Today was a good day for all of you LOVE-aholics out there; Katie Grand and Co. just released a teensy image of the first cover of the fifth issue, a black and white photo of Lea T. and a Burberry-bedecked Kate Moss, shot by Mert & Marcus with the headline "This is Hardcore." If you are even half as excited as I am about LOVE's newest issue, the cover is just the fix to have you up at night guessing at what kind of goodies will be inside. As if that wasn't enough to make my countdown to February 7 all the more suspenseful, the LOVE website has been completely made-over with the Lea T. and Kate cover as the background and a short movie previewing the contents on the issue. From the images in the video, I think this issue of LOVE is going to be just as jaw-dropping as the rest. Now how long until the Bieber cover is released... ?

LOVE's fifth issue will be the "androgyny issue," a complete 180 from issue four's breast-centric celebration of femininity. LOVE held a launch party last night in London to celebrate the issue, where transsexual model Lea T. celebrated her cover with LOVE founder and EIC Katie Grand. There are three covers of the upcoming issue, according to the Telegraph, with Justin Beiber, Kate Moss, and Lea T. appearing solo on each cover.

I don't like to do a lot of end of year reflecting about anything, except maybe all the shoes I wish I had bought but didn't (a girl can dream, right?), but 2010 has seen some major model mayhem. 2010 saw more diversity in the typically cookie-cutter world of modeling. Was it perfect? Of course not, but the modeling industry may be taking much needed steps into the right direction. The top models of 2010 came in all body types, genders, ethnicities, ages, and sexual orientations, proving that there's a lot more to being a successful model than a symmetrical face and a size zero frame. Click though to see our list of the models that made made it big in 2010.

Jacob the Jeweler is suing Courtney Love: Celebrities failing to return borrowed goods to designers is a pretty common occurrence, but rarely are those celebrities sued. Granted, it probably isn't usually $114,000 worth of jewelry. Love's excuse? She lost 'em. {Huffington Post} Karl's Calendar: Another fashion-y calendar will soon be released for 2011. It was shot by Karl Lagerfeld and stars Isabeli Fontana, Heidi Mount, Natasha Poly and others. One photo leaked from the Greek and Roman mythology-inspired shoot and it appears to be clothing optional. {Fashionologie} Oprah Books a Model: Lea T., transgendered model and muse to Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci, is scheduled to film a segment on Oprah to air in February. We're not sure what the segment is about, but we'll be setting our DVRs. {Elle.com}