Casey Legler Models Her First Women’s Campaign

The Upside has launched the second installment of its “Be You” campaign, which sees the world’s first female, male model, Casey Legler, take on a womenswear campaign for the first time.

The 38-year old French artist, author and former Olympian is recognised as the first woman signed to the men’s division at one of the world’s most influential modelling agencies, Ford Models. She has worked with photography royalty Mario Testino, Inez & Vinoodh, Ryan McGinley, Peter Linbergh, and, for The Upside’s “Be You” shoot, Jez Smith.

The concept for The Upside’s new campaign is a reflection on popular culture engaging in the conversation on gender and identification, with a goal to give us all courage to be ourselves.

Photo courtesy of The Upside/ Jez Smith

To show a contrast of female narratives, The Upside also enlisted Tahnee Atkinson for the campaign. The New York-based West Australian model is loved for her bombshell features and healthy body image, something which former Australia’s Next Top Model host Sarah Murdoch praised her for during her time on the show.

“There are no qualifications to be feminine,” Tahnee said in the promo video. “A woman wearing a dress is feminine and a woman wearing leather pants is feminine, because, at the end of the day, whatever a woman does is going to be feminine because she’s a woman.”

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Effectively showcasing the dichotomy of two female figures is just one achievement of this campaign, with The Upside also donating 10 per cent of profits from the month of July 2015 to Twenty10. Twenty10 and the Gay and Lesbian Counselling Service of NSW (GLCS NSW) is a community-based, non-profit organisation who provide support services including counselling, accommodation, family support, specialised training and regional support.  

Peep the rest of the campaign below.