Learn Spanish (Latin America): Este diseñador es menos exagerado que el modelo. - This designer is less exaggerated than the model.

To compare two things and say one is "less [adjective] than" the other, Spanish uses the structure menos + adjective + que. Here, we use menos exagerado que to mean "less exaggerated than". It follows the exact same pattern as más ... que (more ... than).

Since modelo ends in "-o", does it always refer to a male?

The word modelo (model) is invariable when referring to a person, meaning the word itself never changes to end in "-a". To specify gender, you only change the article: el modelo refers to a male fashion model (like in this sentence) and la modelo refers to a female fashion model.

Why use es instead of está for exagerado?

We use es (from the verb ser) because being exagerado (exaggerated or "over the top") is being described as a core personality trait or characteristic of this designer. If he were just acting exaggerated in a specific, temporary moment, we would use está (from estar).

Why is the word for "this" este instead of esto?