Tylen Lambert: THE STRENGTH OF BEING SEEN

You describe yourself as an editorial and androgynous fashion model. How did you first find your way into modeling, and when did you realize this was the direction you wanted to take?

I first found my way into modeling through my love for fashion, photography and visual expression. I was always fascinated by how clothing, styling and the body can tell a story without needing many words. As I became more involved in creative projects, I realized that I was most drawn to editorial modeling. I enjoy becoming part of a concept and exploring different emotions, characters and sides of myself through an image. Over time, I understood that modeling was not only about being in front of a camera for me. It became a way of expressing who I am and questioning the expectations placed on appearance, masculinity and identity. That was when I knew I wanted to pursue it seriously and build an international career.

Your work lives in the space between masculinity and femininity. What draws you to that space, and what does it allow you to express that a more conventional approach could not?

I have always been drawn to the space where masculinity and femininity can exist together. I don't believe that we have to choose one side of ourselves and completely reject the other.

Gender-fluid fashion gives me the freedom to explore different parts of my personality and express emotions that might not fit into a more conventional idea of masculinity. Sometimes I want to feel strong and masculine, sometimes softer and more feminine, and sometimes somewhere in between. For me, that space feels honest. It allows me to experiment with silhouettes, beauty, movement and emotion without feeling that I have to follow a specific rule about how a man is supposed to look.

Growing up and working in Slovenia, how has your environment shaped your sense of identity and your visual language as a creator?

Growing up in Slovenia has definitely influenced me. It is a relatively small environment, and when you are different from what people expect, you can sometimes become very aware of how others perceive you. At the same time, that experience made me more determined to develop my own visual language. Fashion became a space where I could explore the parts of myself that did not always feel easy to express in everyday life. I think this contrast between a more traditional environment and my desire for freedom has influenced my work. I am attracted to unexpected combinations, unusual locations and the meeting of masculinity and femininity. I want my images to feel like they exist somewhere between reality and imagination.

Identity and self expression sit at the center of your work. How much of what we see in your images is a character, and how much is simply you?

There is always a part of me in the images, even when I am creating a character. I enjoy transforming myself through styling, makeup, clothing and body language, but I don't see those things as pretending to be someone else. They allow me to discover different sides of myself. Sometimes an image may look very different from how I look in everyday life, but the emotion behind it can still be completely real. That is what interests me most. I think fashion gives us permission to explore parts of ourselves that we might normally keep hidden. So even when I am playing with a character, there is always something personal underneath it.

You have spoken openly about living with multiple sclerosis. How has that experience changed the way you relate to your body and to your work in front of the camera?

Living with multiple sclerosis has changed my relationship with my body in a very profound way. There have been periods when my body did not feel as predictable or as strong as I wanted it to be, and that taught me to look at it differently. Before, I could be very focused on how my body looked. Now I also think about everything my body allows me to experience, create and express. Being in front of the camera has helped me reconnect with my body in a positive way. I don't want to see it only through its limitations. I want to see it as something expressive, strong and worthy of being seen. MS has also taught me that vulnerability does not make us less powerful. Sometimes showing the parts of ourselves that we once wanted to hide can become a form of strength.

You have also gone through periods of difficulty with speech connected to anxiety. What did those moments teach you about other ways of communicating, especially in a visual medium?

There have been periods when anxiety made speaking much more difficult for me. That was challenging because communication is something we often take for granted until it suddenly becomes difficult. Over time, I started to understand that communication is much bigger than words. A look, a movement, a gesture, a pose or even silence can communicate something deeply emotional.

That realization has influenced the way I work in front of the camera. Fashion and photography became another language for me — one where I don't always need to explain myself verbally. Sometimes I feel that an image can say something about me that I would struggle to put into words.

You describe vulnerability as a source of strength rather than something to hide. Was there a turning point that brought you to that view?

I think the turning point was realizing how exhausting it can be to constantly hide the parts of yourself that you are afraid other people might judge. Living with MS, experiencing anxiety and going through difficult periods with my speech made me understand that I cannot always control how other people see me. What I can control is whether I allow their opinions to define how I see myself. I slowly started to understand that vulnerability is not the opposite of strength. It can actually be where strength begins. Now I try to bring that honesty into my work. I don't want every image to look perfect. I want it to feel something. For me, authenticity is much more interesting than perfection.

The fashion world still holds narrow ideas of what beauty should look like. Where do you see those ideas beginning to shift, and where do they still need to be challenged?

I think fashion has already changed a lot. We are seeing more different identities, bodies, gender expressions and ideas of beauty being represented, and that is something I really appreciate. But I also think there is still a lot of room to grow. Sometimes diversity can become something that is simply used as an aesthetic rather than something genuinely understood and embraced. I would like to see a fashion industry where people don't have to fit into a category before they are allowed to be seen. For me, beauty becomes more interesting when it is individual. I think fashion should give people space to question the rules rather than simply creating new ones.

As a digital creator, how do you decide what parts of your life and your journey to share with your audience, and what stays private?

I try to share things that have meaning to me rather than simply sharing everything that happens in my life. Some parts of my journey, including my experiences with MS, anxiety and self-expression, are important for me to talk about because I know that someone else might recognize themselves in them. If sharing something personal can make another person feel less alone, I think it has value. At the same time, I believe that having boundaries is important. Not every part of my life needs to become content. I want my audience to see the real person behind the images, but I also want to keep some things just for myself and the people closest to me.

Emotional storytelling is a phrase you use about your work. Can you walk us through a shoot or a project where the emotion mattered more than the aesthetics?

One project that comes to mind is Between Water and Skin. The concept was built around the relationship between the human body, nature and vulnerability. Being surrounded by water and nature created a very different atmosphere from a traditional studio fashion shoot. The movement of the water, the exposure of the body and the softness of the clothing all became part of the story. What mattered to me was not simply creating beautiful images. I wanted the photographs to feel vulnerable, intimate and almost transformative. For me, the body in those images becomes more than something being photographed. It becomes part of the landscape — something fluid, exposed and constantly changing.

You are building toward an international modeling career. What kind of projects and creative partners are you hoping to find along the way?

I would love to work internationally with photographers, designers, stylists, makeup artists and creative teams who are not afraid to experiment. I am especially interested in editorial fashion, avant-garde work, gender-fluid concepts, beauty and projects with a strong emotional or artistic identity. I want to work with people who see fashion as more than simply clothing — as a form of storytelling. My goal is to keep developing as a model while building a body of work that feels authentic to me. I would love to eventually work in different fashion capitals and collaborate with creative teams from different backgrounds. I am still at the beginning of that journey, but I am very determined to see how far I can take it.

For someone reading this who feels their differences disqualify them from fashion or from being seen at all, what would you want them to hear?

I would tell them that being different does not disqualify you from being seen. For a long time, I thought that the things that made me different were things I had to hide. Today, I see them differently. They are part of my story, my perspective and the way I express myself. You don't have to become someone else to deserve a place in fashion or anywhere else. There will always be people who don't understand you, but that does not mean you should make yourself smaller for them. Your differences can become part of your strength. Keep creating, keep expressing yourself and keep finding the people who see the value in what makes you unique. Model: Tylen Lambert @tylenlambert

Photographer: Isa Gauvin @isa.gauvin

Wardrobe Stylist: Andrej Lazarevski @andrejlzrvsk

Makeup Artist: Manca Rodman