Sports Illustrated features ‘plus-size’ model in its Swimsuit Issue for the first time
ASHLEY Graham is the first ‘plus-size’ model to feature in Sports Illustrated magazine’s famous Swimsuit Issue.
BEING featured in Sports Illustrated magazine is a huge deal for any model. And now the iconic magazine is featuring a ‘plus-size’ girl in its famous Swimsuit Issue for the very first time.
Ashley Graham, stars in an ad campaign for curvy-girl swimsuit brand Swimsuitsforall in the 2015 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
The 26-year-old from Nebraska has previously graced the cover of Elle Quebec, featured in campaigns for Levis and signed with modelling agency IMG last year along with four other ‘plus-size’ models, in what was seen as a huge step for the fashion industry.
“I know my curves are sexy and I want everyone else to know that theirs are too. There is no reason to hide and every reason to flaunt,” said Graham in a press release. “The world is ready for more curves in bikinis.”
But Sports Illustrated still has a long way to go in featuring a wider range of body shapes in its pages. The magazine has a history of featuring famous supermodels on its covers.
Models Lily Aldridge, Chrissy Teigan and Nina Agdal featured on the 2014 Swimsuit Issue cover. Kate Upton was 2013’s cover girl.
“I think we have a long way to go, but we’re headed in the right direction,” Graham told The Huffington Post.
“It’s not going to be one moment, but when we see the consistency of curvy girls on the runway and on magazine covers, that will be the real benchmark.”
Graham says while the phrase ‘plus-size’ is an industry term, she acknowledges that not everyone is happy with the label.
“I have met women who don’t care if they’re called plus-size and other women who say they hate it — that it has a negative connotation. At the end of the day, I know who I am. I am a model, and I happen to be curvy.
“The fashion industry happens to call me plus-size but if you look on IMG’s roster there’s no division. I’m a model, first of all, and if you have to categorise me as curvy or plus-size, that’s fine.”
Check out the video for Ashley Graham’s #CurvesInBikinis campaign below.