Redken's new face, Lea T, is making history in the modeling industry.
Born in a boy's body as Leandro Medeiros Cerezo, Lea is helping pave the way for acceptance in the transgender community.
In 2010, Oprah called Lea the world's first transgender supermodel and brought her on her show to talk about the feeling of being born in the wrong body in 2011, reports Daily Mail.
Lea underwent sex reassignment surgery in March 2012, reports Daily Mail.
"We're all people with our own personalities, our own beauty, our own lives," Lea said in a statement. "I love working with Redken because they appreciate all kinds of beauty. They believe in the individuality of the person, and I think that's really important."
Lea recalls her first time exploring her feminity: she was getting ready for a party with Riccardo Tisci, a friend, designer and the creative director of Givenchy.
"One night he encouraged me to wear pumps to a party. We went shopping for 'drag queen' shoes and we bleached my eyebrows," she told French Vogue. "It was a revelation."
After that party Lea worked assisting him backstage before becoming his muse. She made her modelling debut in Givenchy's autumn-winter 2010 campaign, as well as numerous other appearances in campaigns and editorials - including the cover of LOVE magazine and posing naked for French Vogue.
Lea appears excited to be taking on this new opportunity with Redken.
"It's an honor and a responsibility at the same time," Lea told Yahoo of her new role.
Other transgender models have endorsed beauty products before, but unlike the others Lea's gig with Redken is going to be promoted worldwide.
The Chromatics hair color campaign is beginning on Jan. 2015 in print and social mediums worldwide.
