Part of this year’s Beauty for a Better World project, one of the models in this spectacular shoot by Domen & Van de Velde is 26-year old Mierijn Blokzijl, who discovered she was living in the wrong body when she was just seven years old. To accompany the striking beauty of the shoot, founder and creative director of Designer Against Aids creative platform for social change Beauty Without Irony, Ninette Murk, sat down with photographer Giel Domen and Mierjin to discuss real beauty, her experiences as a teenager, and hopes for the future. Can you tell us a bit about yourself, how you grew up, what you like to do, how you discovered your identity, how family and friends reacted? What about strangers on the street, or when you go out?   Mierijn Blokzijl: My name is Mierijn, and I’m from a small northern city in the Netherlands. I grew up with my very supportive parents and two brothers. They mean everything to me. Ever since I was young, I knew that I was born in the wrong body. My parents saw that there was something going on, so they reacted very quickly. When was seven I went to the … Continue reading beauty for a better world