Following in the footsteps of Kristen Bell, Bret Easton Ellis and Zach Braff, fashion model Andreja Pejic is the latest celebrity to use online crowdfunding.
Pejic is turning to Kickstarter to fund Andrej(a), a documentary about her life. Part of the film has already been shot, but as Pejic points out in the Kickstarter video, the main draw of this project is finding out what happens next. Over the past three years, Pejic rose to fame for her androgynous appearance, before coming out in July 2014 as a transgender woman. The question is, how will this revelation affect her place in the fashion industry?
Pejic’s life has already been tumultuous, spanning time in a Serbian refugee camp as a child, to becoming one of the most famous models in the world.
That alone would be enough to fuel one documentary (although whether it can crowdfund $200,000 remains to be seen), but the real hook is the uncertainty of Pejic’s future. The fashion world is notoriously fickle, and since many of Pejic’s most high-profile jobs played with the idea of her being a “male” model working with women’s wear designers, it’s possible her career will wane now that she’s open about her gender identity.
As well as being a documentary about Pejic herself, Andrej(a) cannot avoid exploring the fashion industry’s current attitudes toward gender identity. Pejic is in a unique position because while she isn’t the first transgender individual to make it as a mainstream fashion model, she’s definitely the first to achieve this level of worldwide fame before transitioning at the height of her success.
Celebrity crowdfunding campaigns can inspire a lot of criticism, but Andrej(a) seems like a good fit for Kickstarter. The idea may have been too offbeat for a major studio, but considering Pejic’s iconic status, $200,000 isn’t an unreasonable goal.
Photo via Kickstarter