Ines Rau | |
---|---|
![]() Rau in 2019 | |
Born | Ines-Loan Rau 1990 (age 33–34) Paris, France |
Occupation | Model |
Years active | 2013–present |
Ines-Loan [1] Rau (born 1990 [2] ) is a French model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for November 2017 and the first openly transgender Playmate. [3] [4] [5] [6]
Rau was born in Paris and is of French-North African descent. [1] [7] Rau transitioned and underwent gender-affirming surgery at the age of 16, after being inspired by the life story of English trans model Caroline "Tula" Cossey. [1] [7]
After turning 18, Rau started dancing for DJs in Ibiza, during which she became friends with David Guetta. [8] [9] In 2013, at age 23, she first posed nude with Tyson Beckford for a spread in OOB, a French luxury magazine, shortly after coming out as transgender. [10] In May 2014, she first appeared in Playboy 's "A-Z issue" in a spread titled "Evolution" that aimed to depict the growing acceptance of gender identities beyond the male-female binary. [11] She became the second transgender woman to be featured in Playboy after Cossey in 1981 and the first who came out voluntarily (Cossey was outed against her will and reappeared in the magazine in 1991). [5]
Following her magazine appearances, Rau worked as a model for Nicole Miller, Alexis Bittar and Barneys New York. [12] She also appeared in Vogue Italia and in a campaign for Balmain. [9]
In October 2017, Cooper Hefner, son of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, announced that Rau would appear as "Playmate of the Month" in the magazine's November/December 2017 issue, making her the first openly transgender woman to be featured this way. [3] [4] [5] Hefner likened the choice to feature Rau to his father's decision to feature Jennifer Jackson as the first African-American model to appear in Playboy as a Playmate in 1965. [3]
Following her coming-out, Rau became more active campaigning for transgender rights. In 2016, she appeared on the TF1 news format Sept à Huit on an episode focused on her life. [13]
A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of Playboy magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Playmate Data Sheet", which lists her birthdate, measurements, turn-ons, and turn-offs. At the end of the year, one of the 12 Playmates of the Month is named Playmate of the Year (PMOTY). Every Playmate of the Month is awarded a prize of US$25,000 and each Playmate of the Year receives an additional prize of US$100,000 plus a car and other discretionary gifts. In addition, Anniversary Playmates are usually chosen to celebrate a milestone year of the magazine. The use of the word "Playmate" in a sexual sense did not originate with Playboy, and was seen at least as early as 1950 in Vue magazine.
Lindsey Eve (Vuolo) Handrinos is an American glamor model and actress best known for her appearance in Playboy as the November 2001 Playmate of the Month. She has appeared in a number of Playboy Special Editions, and in Playboy videos. She also appeared on TV shows such as The Girls Next Door and The Celebrity Apprentice.
Eugena Washington is an American model. She was born in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. She was the last eliminated on America's Next Top Model, Cycle 7. She was named Playmate of the month for December 2015, and later Playmate of the year for 2016. She was the third black model to be given the title, the first to be named in Playboy's post-nude era, and the last Playmate of the year to be chosen by Hugh Hefner himself at the Playboy Mansion, before he stepped down from the company in late 2016 and his son, Cooper Hefner, briefly succeeded him before Hugh's death in 2017. She appeared in the music video of rapper B.o.B's single "Nothin' on You".
Caroline Cossey is a British model and actress who often worked under the name Tula, which she also used for two memoirs. She appeared in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only as an extra. Following her appearance in the film, she was outed as transgender by British tabloid News of the World. In 1991, she became the first trans woman to pose for Playboy. Cossey has since then fought for her right to legally marry and be legally recognised as a woman.
Geena Rocero is a Filipino-born American model, TED speaker, and transgender advocate based in New York City. Rocero is the founder of Gender Proud, a media production company that tells stories of the transgender community worldwide to elevate justice and equality. Rocero has spoken about transgender rights at the United Nations Headquarters, the World Economic Forum, and the White House.
Leyna Bloom is an American actress, model, dancer, and activist. She has attracted press as a trailblazer for transgender performers in the entertainment and fashion industries.
Valentina Sampaio is a Brazilian model and actress. She became Victoria's Secret's first openly transgender model in August 2019, and became the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue's first openly transgender model in 2020.
Ariel Nicholson Murtagh is a New York-based model, writer, and LGBT rights activist. She was the first openly transgender model to walk in a Calvin Klein presentation and the first openly transgender women on the cover of Vogue. Her writing has appeared in Perfect Magazine, amongst other publications.