Transgender people in fashion: body design and “trans” visibility in fashion communication

Abstract

TThe human body has become design object, and its manipulation is possible due to procedures that allow the modification of forms, among them gender reassignment surgeries, for change of natural anatomy and reassignment of the gender determined at birth. Body design and its representations in fashion media make room for the visibility of “trans” culture representatives, still marginalized in our society. Such discussion is the focus of this paper, which intends to identify some representations of transgender models in fashion media and relate them to some basic principles of democracy, among them the principles of equality, autonomy and acceptance.