Casil McArthur, the male princess photographed with Madonna

“It was incredible, the fantasy became reality, I feel like I had a dream.”

Casil McArthur is still incredulous, more than happy to have been selected for the lavish photo shoot made by Luigi & Iango and posted on The Icon Issuethe special issue of Vanity Fair dedicated to Madonna.

At the table with the pop star, in the scenes of that provocative Last Supper, Casil McArthur, an American, 22 years old, is famous not only for his beauty and his undisputed professionalism, but also for his personal history: when he was born, in Coloreta, he was a little girl. As a blonde and wiry girl she started her modeling career.

But what would it have been like to achieve success in a body that Casil didn’t feel was his?

He sensed an urgency to make the transition, before it was too late, before the world knew him as what he wasn’t. And this is how, at 17, he became «a male princess» as he likes to define himself, and today, post-operation, he is one of the most sought-after models: he has walked the runway for Coach and Marc Jacobs, he has been photographed by Steven Meisel and Collier Schorr.

And what other icons have you worked with?
«I was lucky: I had the opportunity to work with many great fashion legends. As for pop stars, apart from now with Madonna, I’ve done a video with Miley Cyrus, that of Mother’s Daughter».

In this shooting there were many role exchanges: Madonna became Christ and then Frida Khalo… What did she feel she was?
«Very similar to a character named Doll from an anime called Kuroshitsuji. I felt very charming!».

Are you a believer? Did that rendition of The Last Supper make you uncomfortable?
“I don’t know what I believe in, basically I don’t think about it, I don’t worry about it. I know that posing for that photo was beautiful ».

How has the fashion world changed in regards to gender issues?
«Fashion would not be what it is without the long history of trans people who have influenced it: some are famous, others less so, but all have given their fundamental contribution. In recent years fashion has gradually improved in giving trans people their opportunities and rightful roles. Having said that, I think there is still a lot to change».

You have gone through a transition process: do you like to “play” with your sexual identity or would you like others to see you as the boy you are today?
“I’m just a beautiful boy princess. I’d like to take the discourse less binary to focus more on the meaning of what it means to exist in the power of womanhood, regardless of gender. Feminine energy is divine, it protects, nourishes, teaches and heals. The most important lesson of my life has been to love and embrace my femininity and use it to heal my masculinity.”