Andreja Pejic is "delighted" to have become the first transgender woman to sign with Ford Models. Born in the former Yugoslavia and raised in Australia, the androgynous model broke ground in the fashion industry by walking in Jean Paul Gaultier's menswear and womenswear shows in 2011. The 26-year-old completed her transition to womanhood in late 2013, and is continuing her trailblazing path by becoming the first openly transgender woman to be represented by the prestigious agency.
"I am more than delighted to announce that I will be joining forces with the legendary @fordmodels agency," she said in a note posted to her Instagram page on Monday. "@chrimichael (Christopher Michael) is the kind of agent any girl in showbiz would die to have. I'm grateful that I can say I'm surrounded by a team that truly values what I bring to the table. I guess it's the number one rule of business in this businesses but it's not always the easiest one to achieve (sic). Excited for the future!"
Over her career, Pejic has walked the runways for the likes of Prabal Gurung, Marc Jacobs and John Galliano, and also became the first transgender model to land a major beauty campaign in 2015 when she was tapped as the face of Make Up For Ever.
Pejic is especially excited to be marking a new phase in her career under the guidance of New York-based Ford Models, as after coming out as transgender in 2013, she was dropped by her agency at the time.
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"On a personal level, three years ago, I was dropped by a modelling agency after I came out publicly as transgender," she told Forbes recently. "It feels good to go from not even knowing if I would have a future in the modelling business to joining forces with one of the biggest names in the industry, and following in the footsteps of Christie Brinkley, Jerry Hall, Alek Wek - the list goes on and on."