TRIBAL TALK

Gender-bending model

Lillie Cummings, Writer
March 15, 2012
Filed under Arts & Entertainment

Gorgeous models walk the runway every fashion show displaying women’s fashion for everyone to see. But one model in particular makes everyone look in amazement. Height 6’1, shoe size 2 , high, well-chiseled cheekbones, beautiful skin, and platinum blonde hair.

Andrej Pejic, 20, is not the typical women’s model because he is a man. You hardly notice when he is walking the runway or doing a stunning photo shoot except for the slight Adams apple. Pejic’s graced the Paris runways in 2011 for a women’s and men’s show for Jean-Paul Gaultier, and a men’s show for Marc Jacobs as well as being on the cover of 14 different magazines, and was featured in an ad campaign for push-up bras.

He is not trying to be a woman, but French photographer Sebastien Micke, who has photographed transgender models, says Pejic’s femininity is effortless. “Andrej’s got this thing that supermodels have: how to pose in front of the camera,” Micke says. “It’s just natural.” Born in Bosnin, the 20 year old grew up in a Serbian refugee camp for much of his childhood before his family left to live in Australia. As a teenager, Andrej had mostly friends that were girls but his sexuality was accepted among friends and family, making him feels comfortable in his skin. When asked about his sexuality in interviews, he will smile and simply say, “Love has no boundaries.” Andrej plans to attend college eventually in a university in Australia. If fashion doesn’t work out, he’d like to go back to school and major in economics or law. But many believe that he will remain a star on the runway for years to come.