Formally at the helm of Vogue Paris, it seems Carine Roitfeld’s notorious yet original approach to editing has remained strong judging by her latest freelancing job – guest editing VMan’s spring fashion issue.

The quirky gig saw her use real men to model – including a chef, mechanic, architect and even a fireman. While using real models may not be a new concept in itself, using them in the male fashion domain is pretty novel.

Sure, they’re all pretty good looking or “not hard to look at” as WWD eloquently states, but the fact is their look sits outside of the classic fashion model’s strict requirements, yet they’re the ones bagging this uber-cool modelling job – something that the team at Models Direct loves to see!

Roitfeld told WWD that she didn’t want to use professional models because she likes “men trendy, but not fashion victims … When you work with real people, you can’t impose something” and claimed that the images in VMag are “very new for a men’s magazine”.

Also featured in the spring edition is everyone from Glee’s Chord Overstreet to bullfighter José María Manzanares, with French actor Tahar Rahim chosen as the cover model.

Accompanying the issue, Carine also styled a pinup calendar, but unfortunately chose not to use ‘real women’, but rather obvious choices, inducing Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima.

While Roitfeld told WWD this is the first and probably last time she’ll work on a men’s magazine, we’re hoping she chooses real and diverse models in her upcoming work, whoever it may be for.

In the meantime, we’ll look forward to seeing the real male models in the next issue of VMan, which will hit newsstands on February 14.