BORN TO RAIN! I'm a catwalk king and queen

Top designers are fighting over the androgynous supermodel

With comfortable ease, Rain Dove slips into a curve-teasing outfit that accentuates generous boobs. The next moment, the feminine goddess vanishes and is replaced by masculine layers, an enviable jawline and a dark brooding that has Woman’s Day questioning if it’s the same person.

But that’s the magic of Rain, a 30-year-old androgynous model and outspoken LGBTQ advocate who challenges gender norms in the fashion industry by modelling in both women’s and menswear for the likes of Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton and Nike.

And after arriving in New Zealand from Los Angeles for our exclusive photo shoot, it isn’t just a switch of clothes but also mannerisms, movement and even the ditching of typical pronouns such as “he” and “she”, instead being replaced by “they”, that encapsulate Rain’s powerful message.

“I wanted the opportunity to be able to shake free of that burden and that prison,” explains Rain of stepping away from traditional gender labels. “And really be judged based off who I am and how I show up in the world.”

But it’s been a long journey to this point for the fashion star. Growing up in a tiny rural farming town in Newark, Vermont, it was conversations about religion and agriculture that ruled Rain’s childhood rather than gender identity.