With her shaved head, tattoos and piercings Helene Atsuko is not your average cover girl.

Yet her striking looks have caught the eye of one very unusual modelling agency.

Since joining Ugly Models last year Helene, 23, has been in demand for a range of magazine and television work where a ‘unique’ appearance is not only encouraged, it’s a must.

At 5ft 3in and a jean size 12, Helene would be dismissed by conventional model scouts even if they could ignore the body art and lack of hair.

Yet Ugly was clamouring to sign her up.

The London-based agency specialising in ‘character models’ has more than 1,000 people of all ages, shapes and sizes on its books including a woman with one leg, several dwarfs, the world’s tallest man and a lady with 2,520 tattoos.

‘We like our women fat and our men geeky’ declares the agency’s website which categorises models into ‘girls’ ‘men’ and ‘specials’.

Despite appealing to the niche market, Ugly’s client list features some decidedly mainstream brands and publications including Vogue, Calvin Klein, Diesel, Levi, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Dove, and Ford.

If a magazine needs an overweight man to illustrate a feature on obesity, chances are Ugly will have one. And if an advertiser wants an average Joe to sell toilet cleaner, Ugly is the obvious place to look.

Helene, from Southampton, has already appeared in alternative magazine Bizarre (her ambition is to be on the cover) and starred as an extra in a pilot for Steve Coogan’s US series Documental.

“I’d love to be a mainstream model and challenge people’s concept of what’s ‘normal’ but they wouldn’t look twice at me,” says Helene who heard about Ugly through friends.

Since placing a newspaper advert for people of ‘a unique appearance’ in 1969, the agency has never had to advertise, instead holding auditions every 18 months.

“I’ve always felt different. Other teenage girls were into makeup and boys but I was more interested in Airfix models and blowing things up with my science kits.

“But it wasn’t until I was earning money that I could afford to express my differences outwardly and buy the kind of crazy latex clothes I wanted.’”

Helene got her first tattoo – a shooting star on her hip – aged 19. Her ninth, and most recent, piece of body art is an italicised Latin slogan across her chest meaning ‘love conquers all.’ “I’ve always been artistic and my body is like a canvas for me, ” says Helene who has 30 piercings. Today she is sporting studs in her temple, eyebrow, lips and septum (the partition between the nostrils).

She shaved her head for charity but liked the look so much she kept it.

“I’d dyed my hair so many colours it was like a rainbow. I’d had every style going from a Mohawk to dreads. My hair was ruined so shaving it off was easier.

“People ask me if I get self-conscious walking down the street but I would feel worse with long hair and no piercings. That’s just not me.

“Sometimes strangers say nasty things but I’m not going to change who I am.

“I really like the Ugly philosophy of celebrating differences and using ordinary people.

None of their models are airbrushed - what you see is what you get.

“We are constantly fed fake images of these vanilla, plastic-looking people. Everyone knows that even the models themselves don’t look like that, yet we still aspire to be like them. It’s an unattainable kind of beauty and I think advertisers are missing a trick by not using beautifully- unique, real people in their campaigns.”

Helene juggles her modelling career with studying for an MA in archaeological computing at the University of Southampton and working part time in the University’s Student Services department.

“People are getting more accepting of body piercings and tattoos but you still encounter some bizarre prejudices and stereotypes,” she says.

“People assume that because of my shaved head I must be a lesbian and there’s this idea that alternative people are wasters. Yes, I’m a model but I also study hard and I’m hoping to get a PhD.

“If I go for a job interview I remove my piercings and wear a suit but lots of people can’t see beyond the shaved head. The boundaries of what’s seen as ‘respectable’ are incredibly limited.

“If I wasn’t doing this job I might feel pressure to look a certain way but I’m getting work and people look at my pictures and say they’re beautiful. That’s my reassurance - a confidence boost telling me it’s OK to look this way. Being normal is so boring.”