The Yves Saint-Laurent Beauté brand has chosen a new face for its campaign. This is the American transgender model Chella Man: he is hot!
Fans of the DC Comics universe have certainly recognized this, as they play the role of Jericho in the second season of the series. Titans. Chella Man is now the face of the new campaign signed Yves Saint-Laurent Beauté. This is the first time that the brand has chosen a transgender and non-binary person, but also a disabled person, since Chella is deaf. A welcome choice, because it fits with the message of the campaign for the new dyed product “NU”, which advocates acceptance of oneself and all that constitutes us, including scars, the marks of time …
The message to embody this idea is clear: “My skin, my signature” (my skin, my signature in French). Chella Man’s profile is perfect to embody him. Indeed, in a post for the brand his Instagram account, the model and actor does not talk about his career as follows: “My body’s adaptability is a treasure. The scars on my chest and behind my ears remind me of that.”
In the campaign video, he delivers a strong message: “My scars are radiant. They show what I’ve been through. I’ve always experienced intense gender dysphoria. My mind was not connected to my body. of my body my home and my scars will always remind me of this liberation.“The model has had a mastectomy, which means that his chest has been removed. So when he talks about his scars, he is partly referring to the ones on his chest.
Are transgender people more and more represented in fashion and beauty?
The fashion and beauty universe is trying to open up to more inclusiveness. Yves Saint Laurent Beauté is not the first brand to choose a transgender person to represent it. In 2019, the Victoria Secret brand, which however does not usually shine by its progressivism, hired Valentina Sampaio to join the “Angels” team. Also in 2019, model Teddy Quinlivan also became the muse for a big luxury house: Chanel. In 2020, Calvin Klein chose Jari Jones, model and trans activist.
The question now is whether brands really want to be more inclusive and give visibility to people who have never had it, or if they are doing this to “ride” the trend of inclusiveness. and restore their image.