Full Circle After Two Decades
Armin Morbach Returns to Germany’s Next Topmodel
On February 26, a circle closes. Exactly 20 years after the first season of Germany’s Next Topmodel, Armin Morbachreturns as a guest judge—on season 21, alongside Heidi Klum. What may sound like nostalgia is, in fact, a deliberate statement. Because Morbach does not stand for retro glamour—he stands for photographic conviction.
Together with Nadja Auermann, he forms a power duo with a special mission: a tribute to photography legend Peter Lindbergh. An era that defined fashion not through staging, but through personality. Black and white instead of effects. Character instead of pose.
Morbach knows that era not from hearsay—he was part of it. Before stepping behind the camera himself, he was responsible for hairstyling on Lindbergh’s sets. He created the natural, unpolished looks that are now considered iconic. No over-styled hair, no artificial glamour. Instead: authenticity. Movement. Individuality.
Auermann, in turn, made fashion history in front of Lindbergh’s lens. Her presence, coolness, and elegance shaped the image of the ’90s supermodel. Seeing her now alongside Morbach on the GNTM set feels like a conscious return to a time when models were more than walking trends.
For the current contestants, this comeback means one thing above all: a reality check. Morbach brings experience from productions with international names such as Heidi Klum, Cara Delevingne, Sienna Miller, and Lindsay Lohan. Yet his focus is not celebrity aura, but substance. “No pose, but position”—that principle runs through his work.
In an era of filters, AI optimization, and hyper-curated feeds, this mindset feels almost radical. Morbach demands personality. Conviction. A face alone is no longer enough. Anyone who wants to succeed today must know what they stand for. For him, photography is not an end in itself, but an expression of the zeitgeist.
His appearance in season 21 is therefore more than a guest spot. It is a bow to his mentor—and at the same time, a statement about the present state of the fashion industry. Between social media staging and rapid-fire content production, Morbach reminds us that powerful images still live from real emotion.
Beyond GNTM, Armin Morbach has long been an established force in the international fashion scene. He began his career as a stylist before becoming a sought-after photographer, publisher, and creative entrepreneur. With his agency Ballsaal Artist Management, Studio Gleis 7 in Hamburg, and as founder of the Tush Magazine, he has shaped the German media and fashion landscape for over two decades.
His return to GNTM is therefore less a comeback than a continuation. A reminder of where it all began—and an impulse for a new generation that wants not only to stage fashion, but to understand it.
On February 26, then, it’s not just about a shoot. It’s about conviction—and about whether the next generation is ready to show more than just a perfect picture.