The funny thing about all of this is that I can't even decide who Lea T. is in this photo! They all look fabulously androgynous, and I love Riccardo Tisci!
Transgendered models are nothing new to the fashion world; I have a very dear friend who worked at Patricia Field in the eighties (in drag). He was quite the socialite, tearing up NYC every night: go-go dancing for Warhol at Area, bumping into Madonna at Palladium, etc. One of his best friends at the time was Teri Toye, transgendered muse and model for Stephen Sprouse.
Teri was arguably the first trans "It-Girl," long before Amanda Lepore and Sophia Lamar. I even heard that she walked the runway for Chanel ... can anyone confirm this rumor? Toye eventually dropped out of the NY party scene, eschewing the glamorous life to become a real estate agent and lead a "normal" life. But, as Teri's Myspace profile would have you know, she's "back!" At 51 years-young ... take that Middle America!
Here's a clip from a Sprouse fashion show, circa 1984!
