Androgynous supermodel Andrej Pejic says his gender doesn’t matter
Andrej Pejic, the Bosnian-born supermodel often mistaken for a woman, says he doesn’t mind whether people think he’s male or female.
The 19-year-old, who has been dressing in skirts since he was a child, was spotted two years ago by model booker Sarah Doukas, who discovered Kate Moss.
Since being spotted, he has appeared on catwalks around the world, in men and women’s clothes. Recently, bookstore Barnes & Noble reportedly banned a magazine cover featuring him topless, in case he was mistaken for a naked woman.
Pejic also came 98th in FHM magazine’s 100 sexiest women – although the magazine apologised after calling him “it”.
The Australian-raised model, who is used to catcalls from heterosexual men, told New York magazine: “In this society, if a man is called a woman, that’s the biggest insult he could get.. Is that because women are considered something less?
“I know people want me to sort of defend myself, to sit here and be like, ‘I’m a boy, but I wear make-up sometimes.’ But, you know, to me, it doesn’t really matter.
“I don’t really have that sort of strong gender identity – I identify as what I am. The fact that people are using it for creative or marketing purposes, it’s just kind of like having a skill and using it to earn money.”
Pejic added: “Okay, today I want to look like a man, or today I want to look like a woman. I want to look like me. It just so happens that some of the things I like are feminine.”
