Ines Rau is an Algerian-French transgender model. She became the first openly transgender Playmate when she was announced by Playboy magazine as the Playmate of the Month for November 2017. Rau was rumored to be in a relationship with French soccer star Kylian Mbappe.
Rau was born on March 18, 1990, to an Algerian father and a French Moroccan mother. She was assigned as a male at birth. In her mid-teen years, she decided to have s*x reassignment surgery. She went through with it with the support of her parents.
Rau has had a successful modeling career. She has been part of some high-level campaigns and also modeled for some big companies. However, she has most recently been in the news because of Mbappe.
Rau and Mbappe were spotted together on multiple occasions. Rumors that they are dating sparked when the couple was seen getting cozy with each other at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2022. They were also spotted at a beach together later in the same year.
Mbappe’s dating life has been a secret from the media. He has been linked to one model after another including Rau and Rose Bertram. However, it is still unclear who he is actually dating.
When and why did Ines Rau transition to a woman?
At the age of 16, Rau decided to opt for a gender reassignment surgery and went through with it. Her inspiration was actress Caroline ‘Tula’ Cossey. Tula was the first transgender model to appear for Playboy and in 1981, she also appeared as a Bond Girl. Later, she was outed by a tabloid as transgender and lost work due to it.
Caroline Cossey, modeling under the name Tula, posed for Playboy and even appeared in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only. She was outed by a tabloid as transgender. Also she did lose work, she petitioned for several years to change British laws regarding trans people. #PoseFX pic.twitter.com/DAqPxgDWSt
— The Bowery Boys Podcast (@BoweryBoys) August 21, 2019
Tula’s book ‘I Am A Woman’ inspired Rau to go ahead with the surgery. She told models.com:
“Until now I wasn’t really out about it. I just woke up one day realizing that it’s enough, I need to embrace who I am and be loved for what I am and what I have been through- without the fear of being rejected.”
“I was like, You know, you should just be who you are. It’s salvation to speak the truth about yourself, whether it’s your gender, sexuality, or whatever. The people who reject you aren’t worth it. It’s not about being loved by others; it’s about loving yourself.”
However, it is very difficult to find pictures of Rau as a kid. Here are two pictures of Rau before she underwent surgery.
After coming out as transgender, she appeared in the French luxury magazine OOB at the age of 24. Rau made her debut in Playboy’s “A-Z issue” in May 2014 and later in November 2017, she became the first transgender Playmate.