Barney’s New York launch campaign with trans models

Famous New York department store Barney’s has launched a fashion campaign to raise awareness about transgender issues.

The campaign, called “Brothers, Sisters, Sons & Daughters“, consists of 17 fashion shots of transgender people from a range of backgrounds. In the pictures, snapped by Bruce Weber, many of the transgender models appear with a family member.

The campaign will run in major publications such as Vanity Fair and the The New York Times in the US.

Barney’s creative director spoke about the reasoning behind the campaign, saying: “While the lesbian, gay and bisexual community has made enormous strides in this country in this last five to ten years, it has always been glaring to me that the trans community has been left behind. It seemed an important time to do this.”

There are an estimated 700,000 transgender people living in the US, along with an estimated eight million gay people. In August of last year, transgender woman Islan Nettles was murdered in Harlem in a transphobic attack.

Sawyer Devuyst, one of the models taking part in the campaign, said: “Trans people live in shame and fear of themselves and their bodies, but to be recognised with dignity and respect, and on top of that, celebrated, was an amazing experience.”