A transgender model is set to follow in the footsteps of Gisele Bündchen, Candice Swanepoel and Gigi Hadid after being signed by one of the world's most influential agencies.

Hari Nef, 22, from New York, is being hailed as a trailblazer after being snapped up by IMG, which has talent based in the US, London, Sydney and Paris.

The Ivy League graduate shared her delight on her Instagram account - on which she has 13,000 followers, writing: 'I can't verbalize how thrilled i am to be joining the @imgmodels family.'

Transgender model Hari Nef has been signed by modelling agency IMG who take care of Gisele and Gigi Hadid

Hari, continued to express her gratitude to the agency's managing director, Ivan Bart, adding: 'Thanks are due to @ivanmbart for his generosity and vision.'

Just in April, Hari said: 'I’ve been told so many times that my look and my attitude were "too edgy’ to appeal to big fashion clients.'

The signing comes a month after Vogue featured a transgender model on its cover for the first time.

In what was seen as a ground-breaking moment for the fashion industry, Andreja Pejic, 23, appeared in the May edition of the fashion bible and provided a huge stepping stone in changing attitudes towards diversity and gender.

The model has recently graduates from Ivy League university in Columbia and was named as one of New York's rising stars in Dazed Magazine's State of Independence issue

Ivan also took to Instagram to notify followers of his latest recruit and says that he anticipates an exciting future for the model.

Ivan wrote: 'Today begins our journey with @harinef This girl's future is so bright, the guys got knocked out behind her! @imgmodels.'

Signing with the agency is just the latest drop in Hari's varied career.

The model appeared in Dazed magazine's State Of Independence issue last summer, named as one of New York's rising stars and has since been voted Dazed Reader’s 100 list of today’s most influential fashion, film and music rebels.

�� jazzed puzzled & buzzed to be included in @papermagazine's "beautiful people" class of 2015 �� portrait by @kathylo �� interview via #linkinbio �� A photo posted by Hari Nef (@harinef) on Apr 28, 2015 at 11:30am PDT

�� tmw ur oyw 2 class in h2t @adamselman �� more @thecoveteur �� A photo posted by Hari Nef (@harinef) on May 6, 2015 at 1:15pm PDT

Hari has previously featured in a campaign video for the department store Selfridges after they launched their unisex range of clothing and the model has walked runways at Adam Selman and Hood by Air.

The 22-year-old grew up in Newton Massachusetts and was born a boy and says that although her town was accepting she aspired towards a more cosmopolitan lifestyle.

She told Paper Magazine: 'I felt like people in my town were OK with everything so they cared about nothing. It was a nice place to grow up, but it wasn't very fun. I definitely wanted to move to New York for the longest time. And I did.'

It was after moving to the city that Hari finally found the confidence to identify herself as transgender, but she says it was never a secret.

another by @benrayner for @oystermagazine styled by @paulbui wearing @eckhaus_latta & @hoodbyair �� A photo posted by Hari Nef (@harinef) on Mar 18, 2015 at 3:48pm PDT

She continued: 'I transitioned after I moved to New York and I kind of transitioned in front of everyone. People always knew that I was transitioning. I don't mind talking about it; I'm very comfortable sharing information about myself, and I don't hold that as something precious.'

On her Tumblr page, Hari, who is also an actress, answers questions that have been put to her by both fans and critics.

She told Paper magazine 'Why am I doing this if I can't help girls?

'I'm always talking to these 16-year-old girls from Wyoming and Minnesota. It's as important to me as answering emails about [a] booking.'

In questions posed on Tumblr, one user asked: ‘U don't feel as tho being trans is a huge reason why u got signed? Bc u are extremely ordinary looking.’ [sic]

And Hari replied: ‘You know: in the first meeting I was sitting there on that couch like talking about all of my politics and my reasons for modeling and just trying to sell them on the idea of signing me because i knew that my identity would be a stumbling block.

‘The person who is now my agent listened and when i finished he said “yeah, that’s all great. but regardless of all that I actually love your look”.’