Proud of the skin she’s in. Ashley Graham admitted in a new interview with British Vogue that while she used to wish that she were thinner, she’s learned to embrace her curves as a way to inspire other women.
“Do I sometimes wish I were thinner? God, in the old days, absolutely I did, but now I feel that to lose weight would be disloyal to myself,” the 28-year-old cover girl told the magazine. “A lot of who I am is connected to my size, and I am so happy with who I am.”
Graham, who appears on the cover of the January 2017 issue of the fashion magazine, made her name as one of the world’s top models but rejects the term plus-size.
“When we’re supposed to be talking about diversity for women, it feels so divisive and purpose-defeating, giving us yet another label,” she said. Graham has modeled lingerie for clothing store Lane Bryant, and even designed her own lingerie line for Addition Elle, a Canadian plus-size clothing retailer.
The outspoken model has also been on the covers some of fashion’s biggest magazine titles, including Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour and Elle. Earlier this year, she became the first plus-size model to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, giving her career a massive boost.
“For 10 years I’d been told I was always going to be a catalog girl, never a cover girl,” she told Vogue. “Well, I got with IMG and did five covers in a year, boom, boom, boom. See, if you have a pretty face doors will open, but your job isn’t just to walk through them; it’s to get invited back.”
“Look, I hit the beauty jackpot — I get it — but that’s not enough. You’ve got to have more to have longevity in this business,” she continued. “It’s always been ‘OK, so what can I do now?’”
