Andreja Pejić Becomes Ford's First Signed Transgender Model

Andreja Pejic, who came out as transgender in 2014, has become the first non-cisgender model to sign with Ford Modeling Agency, which has been operating now for 71 years.

Announcing her new deal, Pejic said: "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. Excited for the future!"

Pejic was a groundbreaking model before signing with Ford--she's the first trans model ever profiled in Vogue, as well as the first to lead a major beauty campaign as the face of Make Up For Ever in 2015.

Related | Andreja Pejic Makes Vogue History

Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the 26-year-old war refugee fled with her family at an early age to Australia, where she was noticed by a modeling scout while working at McDonald's. She rose to fame back in 2010, first identifying as an "androgynous" model for brands like Jeremy Scott, Jean Paul Gaultier and Rick Owens.

I am more than delighted to announce that I will be joining forces with the legendary @fordmodels agency. @chrimichael 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. Excited for the future! Read my interview with Forbes about it in bio if you like

A post shared by Andreja Pejic (@andrejapejic) on Oct 23, 2017 at 8:37am PDT

Pejic appeared in our 2015 OUT100 lineup, after being named our "Stylemaker of the Year" in 2011. Before she came out as trans, the model compared the male modeling industry to the army: "very straight, but very gay." Pejic also discussed working her way to the top of the female modeling industry: "The truth is I have to work twice as hard to be taken as seriously as the top girls," she said. "I understand that it will take time for me to prove that I'm actually a good model once you look past the media hype and the uniqueness of my looks. But hey, I'm not the first that has had to fight."