Ground-breaking cover 'girl': Male model Andrej Pejic lands his first cover of Elle magazine



Andrej Pejic, 21, has taken the model world by storm with his androgynous look

This is the first time a male model has been on an Elle cover

Andrej appears on the cover of Serbian Elle - published in his home country



Andrej has previously modelled lingerie and wedding gowns

‘My gender is open to artistic interpretation', he says



Ground breaking: Male model Andrej Pejic lands his first Elle cover

He is the wildly successful male model that even Kate Moss has described as ‘beautiful.’



Now Andrej Pejic can add Elle cover ‘girl’ to his vast list of achievements as he graces the cover of Serbian Elle’s January issue.



The controversial model, who has hit the catwalk dressed as both sexes, is the first transgender model ever to be on the cover of Elle.



Dressed entirely in Jean Paul Gautier, the shoot features Andrej as both a man and a woman.



Perhaps in a symbolic representation of his real life gender struggle, ‘female’ Andrej, dressed in black lacy lingerie and suspenders, wrestles with ‘male’ Andrej who wears a variety of dark suits.



Andrej, who has appeared in other high fashion magazines including French Vogue, is a muse of Jean Paul Gautier who provided all the clothing for the ground-breaking shoot.



Significantly the magazine is for Andrej’s home country of Serbia.

Pejic fled to Australia as a political refugee when he was eight following the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia.

Responding to controversy over his feminine looks in the past he told New York magazine: ‘My gender is open to artistic interpretation.



'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.'

Andrej Pejic admits keeping up with his female colleagues is tough in terms of physique, but he manages to maintain his 25 inch waist through strict diet

The constant controversy surrounding him has done nothing to slow down his career.



The 21-year-old is in high demand and was even chosen to model for a lingerie campaign last year.



Andrej's lack of cleavage did nothing to hinder his appeal: in the poster, for Dutch department store Hema, the model advertised a push-up bra.

Andrej's lack of cleavage did nothing to hinder his appeal: in the poster, for Dutch department store Hema, the model advertised a push-up bra

He has also hit the catwalk to model wedding dresses for Rosa Clara, looking every inch the feminine bride.



An 'industry term' has even been invented after him: The 'Andrej Pejic effect' refers to male models who use make-up or have androgynous appeal.



Andrej Pejic has graced other magazine covers previously and was crowned 'model of the moment'' by Canadian 'Fashion' magazine last year

But it's not all fun and games for Pejic, who admits he has to work hard to maintain a woman's figure.



He told Grazia magazine: 'To do womenswear I have to be disciplined. My waist has gone from 29 to 25 inches, my hips are 35 inches.'

Behind the scenes at the Elle photo shoot:









