Ex-boyfriend accused of violent bust-up with 'Catwoman' Jocelyn Wildenstein turns to transgender model Lauren Foster for support - and reveals she has inspired his new fashion line

 The ex-boyfriend of 'catwoman' Jocelyn Wildenstein appears to have put their vicious cat fight behind him - by cozying up to a transgender model.

Fashion designer Lloyd Klein spent Christmas in Miami after telling friends he needed to recover from the vicious brawl that left him with claw marks across his face and chest.

But the 49-year-old looks to have found a new muse in the form of Lauren Foster, a South African-born transgender model and LGBT activist.

The pair joined revelers at the Soho Beach Club on Monday before strolling arm in arm along Miami Beach and enjoying a brief kiss in the surf.

Fashion designer Lloyd Klein spent Christmas in Miami with Lauren Foster, a South African-born transgender model and LGBT activist

Klein wore a baseball cap, t-shirt and dark sunglasses but there was no sign of the bloody facial scratches he suffered during his December 7 bust-up with Wildenstein.

Insiders say he has known Foster, 49, who wore a figure-hugging one-piece swimsuit, for more than a decade and the pair are 'close friends' rather than lovers.

They reconnected in Miami where the shapely blonde has been comforting Klein and posing for sketches for his new couture collection.

'My break up with Jocelyn has devastated me but I've known Lauren for a long time and she's been there for me when I've needed her,' Klein said.

'Things are fabulous and she's inspired me to work on a new collection which is going to be the best one of my career. 

'The catwalk has always been my saving grace. My only lover is my fashion right now.'

Foster grew up in Durban, South Africa, and reportedly decided at the age of nine that her sexual identity did not match her gender.

She abandoned her male identity at 17 and assumed the name of Lauren Shipton before undergoing gender reassignment surgery a year later. 

Foster underwent a gender reassignment operation at 18 years old and became a runway and magazine model. 

Her big break came in 1980, when she appeared in a six-page spread for Vogue magazine with readers unaware she was born a male.

However she was outed by the tabloids after a rival model revealed her secret and her ordeal at the hands of the press led her to become an activist for LGBT rights. 

She became an outspoken LGBT advocate, gay party promoter, blogger and reality star, appearing in an episode of the Real Housewives of Miami.

Her upcoming memoir, entitled 'DANSE SAUVAGE - The Life & Times of International Transsexual, Lauren Foster' promises to reveal a string of high-profile lovers, including 'movie stars and international politicians'. 

 Klein and Foster, both 49, laughed as they chatted and walked down the Miami beach on Monday.