ANDREJ PEJIC knows a good model when he sees one, and he's not just impressed by a pretty face.
"Growing up I loved Kristen McMenamy," he told us. "Shalom Harlow too, and Naomi of course. I really admire them and what they were able to do. They're skilful models, and they all fought to be taken seriously."
A concept that Pejic understands more than many of his contemporaries. Whilst not transgender, Pejic is comfortable to dress in women's clothes if the shoot or show demands it but, far from being the blank canvas he hoped, this has seen him pigeonholed as part of the new gender "trend" - a phenomenon which also includes Brazilian transsexual model Lea T.
"There are similarities between myself and Lea T, and we're placed in the same category, but our look is very different," he said. "Lea has been extremely brave in being very honest about her journey - but I don't really see myself as being here to challenge transgender stereotypes. I'm just myself. It's taken a while to be taken seriously, but I hope to prove that I'm very versatile and that I'll still be here after the phenomenon has passed."
SEE THE GENDER TREND IN PICTURES
Many in the industry are already embracing his delicate looks, but Pejic has plenty of industry names he'd still love to work with.
"To be treated as a muse by someone like Jean Paul Gaultier is extremely flattering," he told us. "I've learned a huge amount about the industry working for people like him, as well as Marc Jacobs, Juergen Teller and others; I'm very fortunate. I'd love to work with Terry Richardson - that would be cool; Mario Sorrenti; and Testino, of course. I love to work with people who are great at what they do."
YOU SHOULD SEE: What Andrej wore to meet The Queen...
YOU SHOULD SEE: How Andrej feels when people think he's a girl...
- Arts & LifestyleThe Idea Of You Has The Wrong Idea
