"So, Fashion should be creativity, freedom, inspiration; people look at the fashion world and think its art and music and society. Bullshit. We can accept a transsexual in a campaign? Bullshit. People love to put things in a box: transsexuals belong there, gay people there, black people there. There is a lot of freedom, but there is still this other world, which is easily shocked."
Riccardo Tisco has recently found himself in the midst of a minor storm that has raged around his decision to put his friend and former colleague Lea T, in his autumn/winter 2010 ad campaign.
"All revolutions start out small" .... "I'm not saying me casting campaigns and talking in magazine is going to change the world, but drop by drop you make an ocean. People do change their minds. People stop and change their way of thinking, and thats important."
Thats true. Riccardo has a large influence on the industry and the potential to change a lot.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1352902/Transsexual-model-Lea-T-makes-catwalk-debut-Brazil-Fashion-Week.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1348179/Kate-Moss-kisses-transsexual-model-Lea-T-latest-Love-magazine-cover.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1298084/Meet-Brazilian-sex-change-supermodel-Lea-T-hot-production-line.html
"I knew Leo when he was maybe 20 and was thinking about becoming a woman...But i had grown up in street culture, my sisters friends who were transsexuals, i knew what it was when i was 12 or 13 and it was just a normal part of life." A place he describes as being "without taboos"
"You're gender is something within, and whatever you wear that remains. A really masculine man can wear a dress and still be a man, a really feminine woman can wear a suit and still be a woman. It's not about what you put on. In an ideal world, there would be another 6 or 7 ways to fit sexuality. We wouldn't have to be just one thing or the other. But you know what the problem is? Sexuality today is not lived out in the light, its lived in darkness. Thanks to the media and religion, all that negativity."
"I am surprised with how much shock there is. Some of it has been positive, and thats brillaint but a lot of people are still not OK with it, which confuses me - not least because i think of transsexual people like beauty, the like fashion. They are people out there buying Givenchy, or Louis Vuitton, or Dolce & Gabbana or Chanel. Why is that something we should hide from?"
Riccardo gave Leo his first womans shoes and outfit (some crystal sandals and a denim McQueen catsuit) . "I wouldnt say im responsible for Lea being who she is...But i am responsible." i just saw a way that i could help and make a difference to some peoples lives.
"Its hard to stop identity and hope from getting contaminated. The more everything becomes the same and gets flattered out by this mass-media levelling, the more society is dead. What i am positive about now is that we're going back to being interested in real identity. We're reaching a point where people an live their lives and share them with society ad not be judged, which is important."
Amy x
