Melanie Gaydos has been a sensation in the modeling industry for the past decade. From appearing in Rammstein music videos to walking the runway at fashion week, it’s clear that her unique look has captivated many people around the globe.

Melanie’s fascinating features can be attributed to the fact that she has ectodermal dysplasia. This is an umbrella term for disorders affecting the skin, sweat glands, hair, teeth and nails, and there have been over 180 variations of this condition identified. ED can also sometimes cause a cleft lip or palate and issues with a person’s immune system, vision and/or hearing. It is a very rare disorder, affecting less than 200,000 individuals in the United States.   

Melanie’s condition has never held her back from pursuing her dreams though. "I was never, ever bothered by the way that I look,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in an interview. “It has nothing to do with me." Getting her start in modeling while she was in college, attending Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Melanie quickly learned that her differences could be used to her advantage.

A photographer friend of hers asked her to pose for him, and she realized that there might be others interested in photographing her as well. “I knew that I was the only person who looked like me. I was the only person who had my sense of vision and such a unique way of looking at the world,” she told Harper’s Bazaar.  

After that experience, Melanie began looking for other modeling opportunities through Craigslist and ModelMayhem. “I met so many [photographers] who wanted to get away from their commercial work, who were bored with [what] they were doing. They just wanted a unique individual, a different kind of person, just a fun subject to shoot," she shared. "Me looking so different from other models, that’s really why I was able to book a lot of work."

Unfortunately, Melanie hasn’t always been welcomed with open arms by people in the industry. But encountering obstacles only motivated her more. “When I first started out … I did get photographers who said, 'Well, you’ll never do a commercial shoot.' Or I’ve gotten people who’ve said, 'You’ll never walk runways,’” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “I've walked the runway shows for the last, I don’t know, three years, I’ve been doing New York Fashion Week! I really don’t like being told I can’t do something."

Melanie has spent her entire life building up a thick skin and learning how to be resilient. She told Harper’s Bazaar that, when she was in school, she could tell that lots of other kids were uncomfortable around her, or perhaps even scared. 

“People would ask me questions; others didn’t really know how to respond to me or react to me," she shared. "I didn’t understand why people treated me differently. It’s literally just a disorder of my DNA. It’s just the way my body is born. It hasn’t affected the way I think or anything like that."

While Melanie has had plenty of success appearing in metal music videos and even a few horror films, she told Revolver that she’s not interested in sticking strictly to those genres. 

“Now that I am modeling and a part of the beauty and fashion industry, I feel like I have to keep going. I realize more about my own personal quest,” she shared. “I really want to normalize people that are different.”

The model also believes that, by embracing our true selves, we can be role models for people who are struggling. “You are the change that you want to see in the world — it’s just a matter of actually doing it,” she told Revolver. “We’re all in this together, and everybody’s kind of all going through their own thing. I think when you start making active change within yourself, within your relation to other people, that’s when things really come together.”

We hope you’re enjoying these breathtaking photos of Melanie, pandas. Keep upvoting all of your favorites, and let us know in the comments below what kinds of photoshoots you think she’d be perfect for in the future. Then, if you’d like to check out another article from Bored Panda featuring pics that challenge beauty standards, look no further than right here!