By Charlotte Williamson 7:00AM GMT 20 Feb 2011
Tall and impossibly skinny, with impeccably arched eyebrows and cheekbones sharp as diamonds: on first impression, fashion’s latest darling looks no different to any of the other freaks of nature gliding through the offices of Storm model agency.
Except this season’s most-wanted model isn’t, for once, a she – it’s a he. In an industry obsessed with the new, fashion has certainly found it with Andrej Pejic. Last month, the 19-year-old – already something of a name in menswear – caused a stir when he modelled womenswear for the Paris couture shows; he even wore a wedding dress for Jean Paul Gaultier.
Right now, Pejic is very much in demand. As well as editorials with prestigious photographers such as Steven Meisel and Mert & Marcus for Paris and Italian Vogue, he is the gender-bending face of the new advertising campaign for Marc by Marc Jacobs. Tonight he will be back in women’s clothing, modelling on the catwalk for Vivienne Westwood as part of London Fashion Week.
So which does he prefer – men’s or women’s?
“I’m comfortable doing both,” he says, “although womenswear is more glamorous. The clothes are more exciting. In menswear I have to work more at having a masculine presence. But then that’s my job. If they put me in, say, a rubbish bag and I feel completely unattractive, I still have to show it to its potential.”
你比較喜歡男模的工作還是女模?
"兩個我都可以。"他說。"不過女裝比較吸引人,更多樣。穿男裝我得更加陽剛。但這就是我的工作啊,就算今天他們讓我套上一個垃圾袋,我照樣得展示它的魅力。
Pejic’s androgenous look is entirely his own creation – today, for instance, he’s wearing a light grey micro-mini dress, thick black tights and biker boots. “Around the age of 14, I decided to experiment with my look,” he explains. “As a kid, you get to the stage where you realise the gender barriers that exist in society and what you’re supposed to do and not supposed to do. I really tried being someone else during that period. It was hard for me – not being able to express myself and feeling I had to be someone else.
Pejic雌雄莫辨的外型完全由它自己塑造而成-以今天的造型為例,他穿著一件淺灰色迷你連身裙配上灰色絲襪和一雙機車靴。"從14歲開始我就嘗試各式各樣的打扮。"他說。
“But now I’m comfortable in my skin, and for my look to be celebrated is great. My look is very personal to me. When I started experimenting, it was a personal decision because I was unhappy. It wasn’t something I did for attention.”
"對一個小孩來說,到了某個階段你會意識到,這個社會對兩性的看法,什麼是你應該要有的樣子甚麼又是不應該有的。我曾經為此很努力符合他人的想法。不能表達自己的感受還得假扮成某個樣子。這真的很辛苦。
"而且我很舒適現在的樣子,也很慶幸自己的模樣。造型對我來說是很私人的事,會這樣開始是因為我很不快樂,而不是為了引起關注。
Even on the closest of inspections, it is hard to discern Pejic’s gender: his complexion is a perfect peaches-and-cream, and there’s not a whisper of a five o’clock shadow. The only clue, perhaps, is his slightly protruding Adam’s apple.
Still, the female models he works with don’t seem too perturbed. “The girls don’t mind if I’m in their dressing room,” he muses. Neither are they annoyed that his flat-chested, snake-hipped figure is nigh-on impossible for most women to achieve. “Most of the girls are friendly. I guess they find me intriguing.”
即變是現在,Pejic的外貌也難以辨識性別:容光煥發的膚色,沒有任何鬍子的影子。唯一的線索是微微突起的喉結。
與他一起工作的女模似乎也不太介意,"女孩們並不介意我跟他們一起在更衣室裡換裝"他沉思。
他胸部平坦,臀型窄瘦,近乎不可能在女性身上找到這樣的身形。"大說數的女孩們都很友善。我想他們看我覺得很有意思。
What does remain intriguing, though, is why designers would want a man modelling women’s clothes.
“Andrej is the perfect coat-hanger,” says Clare Coulson, fashion features director of Harper’s Bazaar. “Clothes look best on someone who is tall and skinny, on a long and lean silhouette.”
Harriet Quick, Vogue fashion features director, agrees. “Andrej is incredibly beautiful with a very striking face – sharp angles and planes that look good on camera.”
有趣的是,為何設計師會想找男模來詮釋女裝呢。
"Andrej是很完美的衣架子。"Harper’s Bazaar的時尚總監Clare Coulson說。"讓一個瘦高的人來穿上剪接長版服飾是最適合不過的。"
Harriet Quick, Vogue的時尚總監也贊同道。"Andrej有著令人難以置信的美貌和面孔,在鏡頭前成了最好的風景。
Yet Quick believes his appeal goes deeper than that. “For the past decade, fashion has concentrated on the alpha male and alpha female stereotype. Now it’s all about questioning sexuality and blurring the boundaries. Andrej is reflecting our times – he’s what’s out there; he’s reflecting culture.
Yet Quick believes his appeal goes deeper than that."過去的十年裡實上深刻的展示了男性領導者和女性至上的刻板印象。現在則是對性別特徵的疑問和模糊的界限。Andrej反映了這個時代-他的外貌反映了這個文化。
“It’s the same look we’re now seeing in music and with teenagers and twentysomethings on the street. He makes people open their eyes; makes them question how one presents one’s image. It’s attention-grabbing – it’s all about looking twice and asking questions. How? Why? And a good fashion image should hold your attention.”
Originally from Bosnia – his mother is Serbian, his father Croatian – Pejic was born shortly before the start of the Balkan conflict. His family moved to Serbia and, when he was eight, to Melbourne, Australia. “I had to learn a whole new culture as well as a whole new language,” he says. “At school, I was thrown in at the deep end. It took me a year to learn English.”一切都從波斯尼亞說起,他的塞爾維亞母親和克羅地亞父親,Pejic在巴爾半島爆發衝突不久前出生。他們搬到了塞爾維亞,在他8歲時定居在澳洲,墨爾本。"我必須學習一個新文化和新語言。他說。"一開始的校園生活我像被扔了一個深水池裡,我花了一年的時間學習英文。"
His refugee status has meant living as an outsider – and fashion is full of outsiders. “Fashion is quite inclusive and good at embracing different things and different forms of beauty,” he says. “It’s a very liberal industry. You can be yourself. Just not overweight,” he adds, drily.
難民身分代表著活在失去歸屬/局外人的狀態-時尚界也充斥著失去歸屬/局外人。
"時尚產業很包容接納不同的事物,不同形式的美,他說。"這是個寬容的行業你能做自己,只要別過重就好。"他冷冷補充。
Pejic was spotted shortly before his seventeenth birthday. “I was working in McDonald’s part time, and this guy came in – he wanted a cheeseburger. He then told me to see him at his modelling agency.”Pejic在他17歲生日前被發掘。"我在McDonald打工,他進來買漢堡。接著他告訴我他是模特經紀公司的經紀人。
Did he think you were a woman? “I don’t know, he didn’t say. Obviously, when I went into the agency, they figured it all out ... But they signed me up right away.”
Initially, the agency was unsure about which direction Pejic should go. “In the beginning they wanted me to be more masculine – they told me to go to the gym because the menswear clients would like me more. That wouldn’t be such a good idea now because I wouldn’t be able to fit into womenswear.”
他把你誤認成女性?
我不知道,他沒跟我說過。不過當我走進公司,我想他們就明白了......同時也簽下我。
起初公司不知如何為Pejic安排工作。"一開始他們希望我能陽剛些,叫我去健身房練身體。男裝客戶會希望我男性些。但這也不是個好主意,這樣我就穿不下女裝了。
His friends and family have been supportive throughout. “Mum’s very proud. She finds every picture of me and has them on every wall. And my friends – well, since being a teenager, I’ve always been experimental. So they aren’t surprised. Obviously, they were surprised to see me in a wedding dress in a couture show. That was probably something they didn’t expect! But they’re all supportive.” 他有來自家人及朋友的支持。"我媽還蠻以我為傲的。她會找我的每一張照片,貼在牆上。而我的朋友...從我們還是青少年時就習慣了。所以他們也不怎麼驚訝。不過婚紗秀可能會讓他們訝異吧,這是他們意想不到的!總之他們一直都很支持我。
And how does the average Aussie macho male deal with his looks? “I’ve been getting chatted up by men ever since I was 14. In Australia, you’ve got your Greeks, and your Italians ... I haven’t had any horrible experiences. Sometimes they’re shocked, but most of the time they still want to buy me a drink.”
他的外貌碰上澳洲男性會是如何?
"我從14歲就常被男人搭訕。希臘、義大利......我沒有甚麼不愉快的經驗。有些人會很吃驚,但多數都會買杯飲料給我。
Post-modelling, Pejic hopes to study either law or economics (before fleeing to Australia, his father was an economist and his mother a lawyer). “My favourite author is Leon Trotsky – the political philosophy and the way he writes is beautiful, and really relevant, too.模特之外,Pejic希望自己能學法律或經濟學(逃往澳洲前,他的父親是經濟學家,母親是律師。)"我最喜歡的作家是Leon Trotsky-政治學和他的寫作是真正的美麗。
“But at this point nobody knows where this modelling is going. I usually have a plan in life – but this wasn’t planned. When I went to the agency, I was like, modelling’s better than a part-time job at McDonald’s. I thought I’d give it a shot. But it’s still going well so we’ll see. I would love to do Playboy with [the photographer] Terry Richardson. I love Playboy and Terry would be the person to do it.”
沒人能知曉模特的職業會變得如何。我通常都有人生規劃-但這是無法預期的。我去經紀公司是因為我想要去,做模特比在McDonald打工要好些。我想這份工我做的還不錯。如果收到花花公子的邀約,我希望由Terry Richardson來執掌鏡頭。
Along with the transgender model Lea T – the current face of Givenchy and Kate Moss’s co-star on the latest cover of Love magazine – Pejic is very much in demand. But fashion is a fickle business – something he is only too aware of.
“At this point, yes, everything’s going well. I’m still a sample size, so I can fit into designer womenswear. The only thing I have a problem with is my shoulders.”
Well, nobody’s perfect ...
✍ = 中文翻譯
Andrej Pejic has been the talk of fashion week
