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Transgender model steals the show on Fashion Rio catwalk

Transgender model Patricia Oliveira wears a creation by Complexo B during the Fashion Rio Show in Rio de Janeiro, Friday, Jan. 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Ricardo Moraes)
01-17-2009 2:01 PM

RIO DE JANEIRO (Associated Press) -- Rio closed its main fashion event of the year with less attention to the clothes than the model _ a transgendered actress.

Patricia Araujo received a standing ovation after parading along the runway for the Complexo B brand late Friday to end the weeklong event in a city that delights in shocking the prudish with each year's Carnival celebration.

Complexo B designer Beto Neves said he invited Araujo to amaze the public.

"In fashion, the cool thing is to surprise," he told O Dia newspaper.

Globo Television's Web site called the 25-year-old Araujo "the star" of the show's final day, and model Isabeli Fontana told O Dia that Araujo "is the greatest."

Tall and slim, the dark-haired Araujo entered the catwalk wearing a long fur coat and quickly unveiled a short black-and-white dress to the applause of the hundreds of guests at the event.

"I love to be mobbed by the press," she told O Dia afterward. "I've always dreamed of being famous."

Her legal name is Patricia Oliveira, but she is known by the stage name of Araujo.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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