Puerto Rican model 24-year-old Sofia Jirau is Victoria’s Secret’s first signed model with Down syndrome, making her debut in the lingerie and women’s wear brand’s latest inclusivity campaign.
In 2019, Jirau made headlines after launching her own online store, Alavett, which offers a range of affordable accessories.
What are the details?
Jirau made the announcement on Valentine’s Day, following the debut of the brand’s new Love Cloud Collection.
Victoria’s Secret creative director Raúl Martinez told NBC News, “Love Cloud Collection is a major moment in the brand’s evolution. From the cast of incredible women that bring the collection to life, to the incredible inclusive spirit on set, this campaign is an important part of the new Victoria’s Secret standard we are creating.”
Jirau shared the news on Instagram earlier this week.
Courtesy of Google Translate, Jirau captioned the Instagram post, “One day I dreamed of it, I worked on it and today it is a dream come true. I can finally tell you my big secret… I am the first Victoria’s Secret model with Down syndrome! Thanks to all of you for always supporting me in my projects. Thanks to @victoriassecret for seeing me as a #NoLimits model and making me part of the Love Cloud Collection inclusion campaign. This is just the beginning, now it’s formed! Inside and out there are no limits … !”
What else?
Victoria’s Secret announced in June that it would be leaving behind the traditional supermodel-style “Angels” and rebranding itself to be more inclusive.
At the time, the company said, “When the world was changing, we were too slow to respond. We needed to stop being about what men want and to be about what women want.”
Its campaign at the time also included outspoken soccer star and activist Megan Rapinoe, Chinese-American freestyle skier and Olympian Eileen Gu, and more.
Rapinoe at the time complained that the brand was “patriarchal, sexist, viewing not just what it meant to be sexy but what the clothes were trying to accomplish through a male lens and through what men desired.”
“And it was very much marketed toward younger women,” she added, calling the company’s former message “really harmful.”
Rapinoe continued, “As a gay woman, I think a lot about what we think is sexy, and we are afforded the ability to do that, because I don’t have to wear the traditional sexy thing to be sexy and I don’t think the traditional thing is sexy when it comes to my partner or people I’ve dated. I think functionality is probably the sexiest thing we could possibly achieve in life. Sometimes just cool is sexy, too.”