New model types: Total normal

Four unusual models, a new ideal. Anna, Leni, Mario and Celine are the stars of our shoot. They are sitting in a Hamburger Studioloft relaxed in the circle, Leni and Celine in underwear, Anna in the complete look of Hermès, Mario in his old jeans. We asked her how she liked herself and others.

Mario: So far, everything has been pimped in the fashion business, beauty is often only an illusion. I was just five days hiking in Berchtesgaden. I saw a lot of nice things there.

Anna: For me everything is beautiful, which is angular, not so smooth. If I have to look twice because it makes me think and move on. In these fractures lies beauty for me. This applies to nature as well as to humans.

Celine: More authenticity is needed today. People realize that the beauty ideal of the past 20 years has been a compulsion, a Photoshop illusion that will permanently destroy us. Now the trend is towards more naturalness. Thank God we break the rules. Obviously you can be beautiful with other dimensions than 60-90-60.

photo gallery

10 pictures

Leni: I think the ambiguous is beautiful. I'm a big fan of androgyny as a way of expressing that gender does not play such a big role in our time.

Mario: In the past, all models looked the same. That did not generate any more attention. It needed change. Who shows me with my disability, has an effect. This in turn motivates others to try something similar. The only catch: You often do not know if it's about tolerance - or just about marketing.

Anna: Gaultier has had older, handicapped or obese people in his shows many years ago ...

Leni: ... and the gender model Andreja Peji. In Paris in 2011 Andreja ran for Gaultier in women's and men's outfits and for Marc Jacobs in men's looks. Andreja was the first model to make diversity on the catwalk popular. I still celebrate her for that, though she's become a woman. The fashion industry then booked them less because they were not exciting enough anymore. Her androgynous look was only used.

"I was already abused by designers"

Mario: I have been abused by designers as well. In Paris, I found a cool in his clothes. When changing, he saw my prosthesis and is flipped. "Why are they sending me a disabled person?" He shouted. I did not experience direct rejection otherwise, so I just can not get the job. My prosthesis was always concealed in the first years. With riding boots about. Only later was the prosthesis my trademark.

Anna: When I started modeling again 15 years ago, my figure was praised, including my hair, but my face was so photographed that afterward I often looked like ironed and did not recognize myself. Meanwhile, the wrinkles are shown. Because otherwise it's boring, always the same. In fact, women and men do not look younger after cosmetic surgery, but rather old. You can not get away from that. I also do not like to wear short skirts or skin-tight parts intended for much younger generations. There must be a little question mark in the room.

Celine: I had to work on my attitude of accepting myself as I am. I've never been the thinnest and most perfect in the fashion world. It was a long process. Especially in puberty, one feels so uncomfortable in his body. My mother always told me: Life gets better the older you get. Today I like me, because I'm happy.

Our models

Celine , 25, from Mannheim won the "Curvy Supermodels" competition at RTL2 in 2016. She was seen in the Italian "Vogue", in the Otto catalog and on the cover of "Brigitte". Previously, she trained as an energy distributor.

Mario , 33, from Hamburg works as a businessman for office communication. He was born with a shortened leg. In 2006, he was approached in a snack, if he wanted to work as a model. Since then he has appeared on shows and in campaigns for Boss, Peugeot and Tom Tailor, among others.

Leni , 25, from Berlin is a designer of merchandise articles for influencers and has been working as a casual model for five years. Most jobs are done by independent fashion labels and magazines.

Anna , 67, from Berlin is a social worker and has four children and twelve grandchildren. As a student she has modeled and started again 40 years later, for example in campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana perfume and on fashion shows by Yamamoto, Undercover and Marimekko.

Leni: For people like me, models like Andreja Peji have paved the way. For the topics gender, queerness, for nonbinary gender identities. I know that behind the scenes things are different, that many are not brave enough to work for guys like me. But I never did bad experiences. Of course, people are trying to categorize you as a man or a woman. That is exhausting. In English there are "They" for nonbinary people. In Scandinavia there is also a third pronoun, in Germany meanwhile a third gender can be entered. I do not want to have to explain myself all the time. I always think, "Educate yourself, googel it!"

Celine: I'm in the drawer "curvy". I am often asked what is different about my job. Nothing, I always answer. It's the same as the straight-size models except that I can eat more. I would prefer, I would be perceived as a normal model. After all, I am also completely normal.