Top modeling agency IMG has added transgender model Hari Nef to its A-list roster.
The 22-year-old joins the likes of international superstars Gisele Bundchen and Candice Swanepoel, who have become the face of the agency.
She shared the news on her Instagram page earlier this month.
“I can’t verbalize how thrilled i am to be joining the @imgmodels family thanks are due to @ivanmbart for his generosity and vision, she wrote.
Nef is a recent Columbia graduate, and was named one of New York’s rising stars in Dazed Magazine, and has since been voted Dazed Reader’s 100 list of today’s most influential fashion, film, and music rebels, according to The Independent.
“I’ve been told so many times that my look and my attitude were ‘too edgy’ to appeal to big fashion clients,” she said in April.
IMG Managing Director Ivan also shared the news on the agency’s social media accounts, writing “Today begins our journey with @harinef. This girl’s future is so bright; the guys got knocked out behind her!”
The fashion world appears to be pushing for diversity more recently.
Andreja Pejic made her catwalk debut following gender reassignment surgery in April and one month later became the first transgender model to land the cover of Vogue Magazine in its May edition.
Pelic and Nefs fellow transgender model Lea T has also been used as a muse for Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisco for more than five years.
Nef’s previous works include a campaign video for Selfridges unisex line, Agender, and she has walked in runway shows for labels Adam Selman and Hood by Air.
“I transitioned after I moved to New York and I kind of transitioned in front of everyone,” she told Paper Magazine. “People always knew that I was transitioning. I don’t mind talking about it; I’m very comfortable sharing information about myself, and I don’t hold that as something precious.”
A photo posted by Hari Nef (@harinef) on May 16, 2015 at 1:30pm PDT
moisture is the essence of wetness and wetness is the essence of beauty tbh
A photo posted by Hari Nef (@harinef) on Apr 6, 2015 at 2:15pm PDT