‘Gender-neutral’ and ‘gender-blurring’ are the latest buzzwords in fashion. Talking points revolve around designers’ championing of models and campaign stars that have transitioned sexes, while clothing neither aimed specifically at men or women have become a matter of intrigue.

But one model hoping to become less of a tokenistic pawn and more of a signal of real change when it comes to attitudes to gender in fashion is Hari Nef.

In June last year, Boston-born Nef became the first transgender model to be signed by top modelling agency IMG. Joining the same books as Gisle Bundchen, Gigi Hadid and Chrissy Teigen, interest in the 23-year-old soared and she was interviewed and captured for US Vogue, and starred in a shoot for Swedish retailer & Other Stories, which was entirely put together by transgender creatives. Catwalk appearances at New York Fashion Week followed (for small, forward-thinking brands Eckhaus Latta, Hood by Air and Adam Selman, the eponymous label of Rihanna’s former stylist) as did a role in series two of Amazon TV show Transparent.

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Nef is now a contributor to acclaimed scriptwriter Lena Dunham’s Lenny e-newsletter, where she recently penned an essay on ‘being a visible member of a marginalized community’, and has struck up a friendship with one of the most powerful men in fashion, Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele. Michele has dressed Nef in his Gucci creations to for various public outings, but yesterday he invited her to take over the brand’s Snapchat account and star in Gucci Milan Fashion Week show – to model menswear , that is.

Confused? You shouldn’t be, because as Nef explained to Vogue: “Being a woman is an option, being trans is an option, and they’re options that appeal to me. We need to listen to people, not labels, not semantics.” Michele is somebody clearly not defined by labels; since he took the helm at Gucci a year ago, his catwalk shows have featured models of indeterminate gender and his menswear collections have whipped the fashion team here into a waiting-list frenzy.

Nef met the diminutive Italian designer when she requested a dress to wear to the Los Angeles premiere of Transparent – which incidentally, centres on a retired college professor transitioning as a woman – and invited her to have dinner together at the Chateau Marmont, where they hit it off.

Yesterday’s red cape coat-clad turn in the Gucci show was a big deal, as it marked Nef’s first major catwalk appearance in Europe. The significance that she was book by a behemoth such as Gucci will have mattered, but that it was a men’s show? Much less so. As she explained to Dazed after the show: “He’s [Michele] a great guy and he sees people, he sees characters...he doesn’t really see a lot of the labels. To work with the team has been a joy. I can genuinely say it’s been amazing.” Here’s hoping that Nef’s refreshing outlook on labelling proves to be more than a one-season wonder with the industry’s tastemakers.

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