Gracing the cover of New York Magazine in August as Male Model of the Year, Andrej Pejic’s inarguably beautiful face forced newsstand-goers to take a closer look, myself included. The model, 20, born in Bosnia, began modeling in Australia. Scooped up by Marc Jacobs in early 2011, he now models both menswear and feminine couture for Jean Paul Gaultier. His transcendent image is helping to redefine the idea of gender and beauty worldwide. 



You can stare at him… and keep staring at him. He won’t look more masculine or feminine, no matter how badly you want to make a firm decision about him. I can scarcely express how overjoyed I am at someone like Pejic is being pushed to the fore of high fashion. Sure, he’s thin. We’re not breaking down barriers there, and the argument will always stand that a girl will never be as thin-hipped as a boy, and for that fashion is always guilty of not wanting to worry with the annoyance of tailoring for women with a figure. But the blurring of the lines, the notion that a Peter Pan aesthetic is fine and to leave it at that — this is groundbreaking, folks! I love it.


The best part is that Andrej Pejic is just a model now. A highly-paid and very in-demand one, sure, but he’s modeling for magazine editorials and ready-to-wear campaigns. This is a profound step in the right direction, audiences becoming comfortable with gender-neutral beauty.


So, what’s the deal, Lovelies? Gender-bending gone too far? Or is Andrej fashion’s torchbearer for gender freedom?

[Images via designscene, models.com, ftape.com, huffpost]