Proenza Schouler is the latest luxury label to promote inclusivity by casting three transgender models in its pre-fall 2017 campaign.
Designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez cast models Stav Strashko, Torraine Futurum and Marcs Marcus and the results are striking.
Photographed by Ethan James Green and styled by Camilla Nickerson, the campaign lookbook also features models Michelle Gutknecht and Emm Arruda.
On casting models for the lookbook, the design duo asked Green to call upon some of his friends in New York City.
“We have admired Ethan’s work for a while now and have many mutual friends in New York. Ethan’s way of capturing distinct personalities in a socially conscious and progressive way and his strong connection with New York and its underground subcultures is something we respect,” the designers told Refinery29.
Futurum has previously had a blog hosted on The Huffington Post in which she wrote about her experience of transitioning:
“My 2015 kicked off with a pretty major milestone: I began medically transitioning into a female body. I’d spent all winter debating whether this was the right step for me, but once I finally started hormone replacement therapy, I immediately felt it was the best decision I’d made my entire life.”
Strashko spoke openly about being transgender with TeenVogue last year.
“I consider myself a girl only because of the world we live in. For example, if I wear a skinny jean, a crop top, and makeup, people see me as a girl, so I feel obligated to say I am a girl. But I would rather live without definition,” Strashko said.
Marcus spoke to Dazed back in 2015 about the beauty of individuality:
“The incorporation of trans models should beneficially showcase their beauty as individuals... independent of, and in harmony with their bodies. It’s more important and more popular than ever to be hyper-representational of small communities within a larger social group,” Marcus said.
From their signature digital prints and abstract cuts and designs to statement-making footwear, the entire collection is beautiful.
Here are some of our favourite looks from Proenza Schouler’s pre-fall 2017 collection:
You can view the entire line here.