Dude looks like a lady

Nineteen year old Andrej Pejic has long blonde hair, high cheekbones, enjoys wearing makeup and heels, and looks great in a dress.

But this Serbian expat who has lived in Broadmeadows, Melbourne since the age of eight, isn’t a she.

Andrej is the fashion industry’s biggest new face behind the androgynous look and is already in campaigns for John Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs.

He is part of the new ‘femiman’ trend, the latest in a new crop of gender-bending models who have risen to prominence in the last few seasons. According to reports, he is on the top of every casting agent’s list for the men’s shows for Paris Fashion Week.

Andrej is the leader of a new “gender fluidity in fashion”, in which traditional male and female attitudes are starting to matter less. It’s a message that is being slowly adapted industry-wide – and is resonating with consumers.

Growing up, he has been quoted as saying his transition to Australia was a difficult one, as he was forced to learn English and integrate with students who weren’t like him. He said that for all his physical differences, he was never bullied by his peers and instead felt only that he was the subject of “curiosity and attention.”

It seems as though the attention isn’t going to die down, with Andrej being revered by the fashion industry and general public alike with a huge fan base and online following from around the world.

He has become the face of the androgynous community worldwide who have been calling for greater tolerance of their lifestyle.

From the Herald Sun:

MELBOURNE's androgynous modelling superstar, Andrej Pejic, has blurred fashion's boundaries again, appearing on the catwalk in Paris in a haute couture bridal gown.


The 19-year-old from Broadmeadows created a sensation when he closed the Jean-Paul Gaultier womenswear show dressed as a bride, complete with a mohawk, black veil and long black gloves.


The gender-bending turn, in front of guests including French Vogue boss Emmanuelle Alt and actor Catherine Deneuve, came after Pejic closed Gaultier's menswear show last week dressed as a woman.


Pejic, who has been dubbed "James Blond", is also the face of Gaultier's new advertising campaign and appears in the latest Marc Jacobs campaign.


His look has made him one of the fashion scene's most popular new stars, according to Matthew Anderson, director of Pejic's Australian agency, Chadwick Models.

"The success and embracement of Andrej in the fashion world has been phenomenal," Anderson said. "No one is pretending that this is the new norm, but what Andrej is doing is providing a canvas for designers who have always pushed boundaries.

"I have about 60 requests in my inbox from around the world wanting a piece of Andrej."


I am really not all that surprised that the fashion community love Andrej – it really is an industry that embraces everything (yes, even curves for all you sceptics) and I think he looks amazing in the shows.