Andreja Pejic Makes Her Post-Transition Runway Debut
Andrej Pejic had a prolific career, but Andreja’s is just getting started. The model, who took time off from modeling last year to undergo gender reassignment surgery, made her debut as an entirely new (but kind of the same) person at London Fashion Week.
Walking alongside Kendall Jenner, Lily Donaldson, Jessica Stam, and other beauties, the 23-year-old fit in with the march of beautiful models at the Giles Deacon runway presentation on Tuesday. And while she’s had an impressive string of jobs to date — closing Jean Paul Gaultier’s Haute Couture show (the final bridal look that Rihanna wore to the Grammys), walking in Marc Jacobs DKNY, Jeremy Scott, and more — this catwalk appearance is especially poignant. Wearing a black satin cape with ruffled high-neck shirt and rocking a dark statement lip and slicked back hair, this return marks the end of a long road but the beginning of a new one.
Renowned for her androgyny and coming to prominence because of it, walking in womenswear as a man, Pejic announced she had was in the process of transitioning in early 2014. At the time, the Serbian-born model explained she always felt like a girl and even took puberty blockers at a young age to halt the process. At 17, she was discovered by a modeling agent and her career took off instantaneously. While she’s been open with her family for years and had been planning on having the sex reassignment surgery as soon as she could, those plans were put on hold to pursue job opportunities.”I was proud of my gender nonconforming career. But my biggest dream was to be comfortable in my own body,” Pejic told People. ”I have to be true to myself and the career is just going to have to fit around that.”
Turns out, it does. ”It feels amazing to be making my runway debut for one of my favourite British designers #Giles Thank you to @kegrand and @guineapiggiles #thereturn #LFW,” Pejic shared on Instagram. Her job prospects are expanding even beyond the modeling world, and she’ll make her acting debut later this year in Sofia Coppola’s live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid.
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