Perhaps if I was in a different profession, I wouldn't have worn 'trans' on my forehead. But there's a difference between not wanting to make a big deal out of something and fearing the effect it will have on my life.
— Andreja Pejic
I've definitely had my struggles with the male species, as I'm sure most girls have.
I think we all evolve as we get older, and that's normal, but I like to think that my recent transition hasn't made me into a different individual. Same person - no difference at all, just a different sex.
The best songs/films/collections expose truths about life and make them universally accessible; they progress humanity.
To all trans youth out there, I would like to say respect yourself and be proud of who you are.
I achieved my personal dream and completed my transition to be able to live life as a woman.
I read 'The Original Beauty Bible' when I was 16, and it changed my life.
I want to keep sharing my story in the hope that young trans people or just people who feel different or ostracized have something to look up to.
When childhood ended, I had to suppress feminine characteristics and try and be a boy. I didn't want to grow up at all because it meant becoming someone else.
I wanted to be a good kid, and I wanted to please my parents.
In the beginning, I was worried there are too many shots of me as a boy out there. Now I'm at a point where I know my past doesn't make me any less of a woman today. I can be proud of it. I don't have to bury it.
It's good to be noticed.
Sometimes I've seen comments about my knees or about my jawline, or people write things like, 'She still has signs of being a boy,' and then I realized that these are beautiful features. I've grown to love them.
It would be lovely to live in a world where trans-female models were treated as female models, and trans-male models were treated the same as male models rather than being a niche commodity.
I figured out who I was very early on - actually, at the age of 13, with the help of the Internet - so I knew that a transition, becoming a woman, was always something I needed to do.
Fashion is quite inclusive and good at embracing different things and different forms of beauty. It's a very liberal industry. You can be yourself. Just not overweight.
I'm not a big fan of identity politics and sort of picking one thing and defining yourself with it.
When I was little, the idea of waking up as a girl was like a fairytale. I had this idea that I'd meet a witch who would transform me. From the moment I found out that it was actually possible, I went to bed each night feeling that when it happens, it will be the best day of my life. And it was!
I remember as a kid, my mom had to trade canned food to buy my brother and me chocolate because we were living in Serbia at the time, and there were sanctions. If I catch myself complaining about going to a red carpet event, I say, 'Shut up.'
I don't believe that the fight for trans rights or African American rights is different from the fight against war, or the fight for refugees.
The beauty of my journey is that it's always been pretty unpredictable, so stay tuned.
We should give people the freedom to express who they are.
I didn't know if I could have a career in fashion; I didn't fit in an obvious box.
Makeup is a very delicate thing for me - I've got sort of defined features, so I don't like to do too much contour, as it can be a bit severe.
I was planning to transition right after high school and attend university as a girl, but then the modeling thing came up. It was an opportunity to see the world. My family knew I identified as a girl, but I didn't tell people in fashion.
Being a bride for Gaultier was a very special moment for me.
I always dreamt of being a girl. One of my earliest memories is spinning around in my mom's skirt trying to look like a ballerina.
I identify as a woman first, but I am also proudly trans.
If I could talk to my younger self, I would tell her that you will grow into the woman you've always wanted to be. You will find love. You will be successful. You will be happy.
I thought about being gay, but it didn't fit.
I came out to my mom at the age of 14. She didn't understand it at first, but she's been very supportive since.
My favourite author is Leon Trotsky - the political philosophy and the way he writes is beautiful, and really relevant, too.
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 love to work with people who are great at what they do.
If you live your life on your own terms, you might find that people actually give you more respect.
A lot of people, when they look at the whole trans thing, they think,'Oh, you're transgender, and in the fashion industry, which is very pro-LGBT, so you don't have any problems because it's a progressive place.' But that's not the reality.
With fashion, it's all about timing and holding out for the right thing.
All human beings deserve equal treatment, no matter their gender identity or sexuality.
Australia was a very different world and culture from the one I left in Europe. Life was much more spread out. People drove everywhere. They built higher fences. Neighbours didn't interact so much.
I do have to thank my mother for my eyebrows.
I was scouted working at the register at McDonald's in Melbourne, Australia. I worked there as my first job, and a guy walked in and gave me his card. I was 16. I was skeptical, but I looked it up when I got home, and it was legitimate.
I struggled to find an agency in London because no one knew whether they should put me in the men's board or the women's board. There was a lot of uncertainty about my commercial viability.
The Internet gave me the sense that there were words to describe my feelings and medical terms.
I feel that for a lot of my career, I had success, I was adored, but I was also this alien creature. I want to show that I have the skill like any other female model, and I'm asking for the same equal treatment and equal respect as any other female model.
When I first went to Milan, my agent said you have to give off a strong, masculine energy. They don't like campiness. They like boys to appear straight and to appear masculine. I quickly learned the game of it and how to navigate around it.
I am 6 foot 2 inches, and one of the benefits of that is having long legs.
Society doesn't tell you that you can be trans.
Gender dysphoria is never an easy thing to live with, mainly because people don't understand it.
I've been getting chatted up by men ever since I was 14.
When I'm sitting in a casting room in Paris, I'm not the thinnest model. Sometimes I'm not the most flat-chested, either.
