Days before her planned gender reassignment surgery, a transgender model wowed audiences on the catwalk at London's Fashion Week, just two years after beginning hormone replacement therapy.
Nicole Gibson, 32, took part in the Catwalk For Change campaign for Models of Diversity, a fashion showcase that sought to challenge the lack of diversity within the fashion industry.
"The fashion show was amazing," said Gibson. "They say you have not really made it as a model until you walk along the catwalk in a sheer dress with your nipples showing -- and here I was doing it in my first show. Luckily, thanks to the hormones, I have quite a nice pair now. I didn’t have time to get nervous, I was just so excited."
Up until her 20s, Gibson identified as a gay man. She then started to wear women's clothing for a number of years before deciding to begin hormone replacement therapy. "To me it is just something that I have to do," stated Gibson. "It is like having two horns on my head that I have to get rid of to become the person that I have always felt I was inside.'
Prior to embarking on her modeling career, Gibson work at her local pub in Horsham, West Sussex. After hormone replacement therapy altered and reshaped her physique, she reportedly left the job for the catwalk.
"I didn't know what I was feeling but I knew I wasn't the same as everyone else," Gibson told reporters. "I used to dress up in dresses and pretend I was Elizabeth Taylor in 'the Blue Bird' -- but I told everyone else I was pretending to be a wizard."
Gibson has since been booked for the Ideal Home Show, slated to take place later this year. Check out the slideshow below of photos from Gibson's modeling debut.
Transgender individuals are slowly gaining visibility within both the fashion and entertainment industries. Since appearing on "America's Next Top Model," transgender model and designer Isis King has become a staple in the fashion world and is now recognized as an LGBT icon within the fashion industry. "America's Next Top Model" has since featured other transgender models. Popular clothing brand American Apparel also recently put out an open call for transgender models.
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