From the Runway to His Own Aesthetic Practice
Insights by Fabian Elsner | 21.10.2026
Even before finishing high school, Fabian Elsner walked the runway at New York Fashion Week. Today, the 38-year-old helps his patients achieve a refreshed, natural look – entirely without surgery. Yet he always opens his consultations with horror stories.
Fabian Elsner is on the verge of graduating from high school when the fashion world takes notice of him. He uses the school break to accept an initial offer. Spurred by his early success, he quickly faces a choice: school or a modelling career? After all, neither Calvin Klein in New York nor Versace in Milan caters to the German school calendar. Thanks to his parents’ persistent advocacy, Elsner is able to trade the Berlin classroom for the world’s runways, despite compulsory schooling laws. His diploma? Postponed, but by no means abandoned.
Cockroach Flats Instead of Model Mansion
Back home in Berlin, Elsner’s mother gets a glimpse into her son’s professional world through Germany’s Next Topmodel. “In real life, a model villa doesn’t really exist. But the cockroaches Heidi Klum talked about on air – those I know from firsthand experience,” says Fabian Elsner. Although he regularly works with top brands and agencies, life behind the scenes is hardly glamorous: “You sleep in bunk beds with eight or ten fellow models – plus countless cockroaches – in a cramped apartment in Chinatown, and on top of that, they dock 65 dollars a day from your pay for rent.” It was quite a feat under such conditions to show up at a morning Fashion Week casting looking well-rested and with a radiant complexion.
From the Casting Gamble to Greater Predictability
Daily life is demanding, but the pay is certainly respectable. The success rate? Nowhere near as favorable. “Even as a successful working model, you have to go to ten castings just to land a single job,” Fabian Elsner notes. After nearly two years shuttling between New York, Milan, and Tokyo, the now-former model returns to Germany. There, he finishes his Abitur – becoming the first in his family to do so.
Despite walking at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and working alongside Eva Padberg, modeling recedes further and further into the background. “I like having things in my own hands,” Elsner admits, revealing himself as a fan of stability and predictability.
An avid athlete from an early age, he studies sports science and spends several years working as a personal trainer and nutritional consultant for bankers and entrepreneurs. A fixed hourly rate instead of the casting lottery.
Trading Dumbbells for Syringes
However, his interest in facial aesthetics also remained persistent. One rigorous alternative medicine training program later, Fabian Elsner finally dives into the world of medical aesthetics. To properly expand his expertise, he attends advanced courses offered by the manufacturers of various products. Elsner has now completed around 60 advanced training masterclasses. There, theory is translated into practice on models the participants bring in themselves. As with any craft, the same applies to aesthetics: practice makes perfect.
Meanwhile, the 38-year-old has been working in the industry for half a decade. “In my opinion, hyaluronic acid treatment represents the ultimate discipline,” says the expert. However, overly obvious negative examples often lead to skepticism toward his profession. “Unfortunately, only the botched results stand out,” Elsner laments, referring to the fact that advertising with before-and-after photos for aesthetic treatments is banned in Germany. “The public is meant to be protected from artificial pressure to self-optimize, which is generally not a bad thing. At the same time, this makes it difficult to showcase successful results,” he points out.
Unsparing Transparency Over Quick Cash
In his Berlin clinic, located near the Kurfürstendamm, the aesthetics expert is completely committed to comprehensive patient education. “In pure ‘injection mills,’ the lure is quick money. It’s all about mass processing there,” he notes, knowing full well that detailed medical histories and consultations aren’t standard everywhere. “You shouldn’t cut corners when it comes to your face. The best and safest, or nothing at all. I’m simply a perfectionist,” Fabian Elsner emphasizes.
He himself started getting treatments when he was 25. “No one told me back then that I could get necrosis (tissue death, ed.) if hyaluronic acid got into an artery,” Elsner says. “Statistically, the risk is very low, but not every artery follows the textbook. Even the best practitioners can make a mistake,” he acknowledges. During preliminary consultations with his patients, Fabian Elsner therefore makes no secret of the risks: “I start with horror stories and then explain what can be done about them.” After treatment, he remains reachable for his patients via an emergency number. “Someone who is well-informed can recognize the first signs of a complication themselves at home. In the unlikely event that one occurs, I can intervene quickly and fix it,” Elsner explains, emphasizing how important thorough patient education is in his line of work.
A Matter of Profession and Psyche
From an expert’s perspective, the desired treatment isn’t always advisable. Fabian Elsner exercises particular caution when there are signs of body dysmorphic disorder. How does he spot it? “It’s a combination of a trained eye and a few targeted questions,” says the aesthetics expert.
Beyond psychological factors, professional demands can sometimes also weigh against a treatment. “I advise teachers, for example, against completely smoothing out their faces. Especially in elementary school, scientific findings show that a great deal happens through nonverbal communication. A teacher’s corresponding facial expressions therefore play an important role,” says Elsner, who occasionally turns away clients out of professional conviction.
Achieving the Ideal Look with a Skincare Routine and the Golden Ratio
Gone are the days when beauty and aesthetics were exclusively reserved for women. Elsner’s patient base is split almost evenly between men and women. “I’d say 50:50,” the expert notes. After all, longevity concerns everyone. “Who knows how old we’ll get? Possibly 120. To still look absolutely great at 70, you have to treat your body with care,” he points out.
Achieving an individually optimal look is also at the core of his face design service. Those who want to treat not just individual areas, but their face in its entirety, are in the best possible hands with Fabian Elsner. Supported by computer technology, he sets out to find the absolute best version of each patient’s unique features. “We measure it three-dimensionally and can visualize the desired results in advance. The grid masks are based on the Golden Ratio (proportions and distances that are perceived as particularly harmonious and attractive, ed.),” the expert explains.
What can men and women do for an even complexion aside from smoothing and facial contouring injectables? “Regular skincare is incredibly important. Unfortunately, daily skincare cannot be replaced by aesthetic treatments done every few months or twice a year,” Elsner says. His expertise and personal experience in skincare are therefore currently being channeled into another project. Exactly what that involves, the perfectionist will only reveal once everything from the formula to the packaging meets his standards. Because here, too, Fabian Elsner’s credo applies: “The best and safest, or nothing at all.”
To be continued …
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