Ashley Graham

Ashley Graham has been a model for sixteen years and has struggled with how the fashion industry deals with the size difference of models. In 2003 she was signed on to Ford Models, and last year in 2016 she became the first plus size model to be on the cover of a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. In 2010 Lane Bryant came out with an ad titled, Not what Mom Would Wear, which was rather controversial; it consisted of shots of Ashley in different lingerie, preparing for a date. Television stations such as NBC, CBS and ABC, banned this commercial from the air due to its inappropriate themes. But they continued to air Victoria’s Secret ads. Lane Bryant and Ashley Graham had to deal the publicity, both bad and good, that this ad brought them and
More Like My Size. In it, she discusses the problems she faced in her early years of modeling and the problems she still faces today. She strives to convince women to look in the mirror and tell themselves they are beautiful and to, “work together to redefine the global vision of beauty, and it starts with becoming your own role model.” In addition to the TEDx Talk, Ashley Graham started a hash tag, ‘Beauty Beyond Size’ to celebrate body image and diversity. Women on Instagram adopted the hashtag, instilling this idea of confidence in many women. With over 100,000 posts, this hashtag shows the idea that Ashley Graham has been promoting makes women view their bodies and themselves in a more positive light. In the January issue of British Vogue, Ashley discussed how, “…being myself – with all of my curves and imperfections – is seen as ground-breaking. In a word fueled by filters and the pursuit of perfection, it seems like keeping it real has become avant-garde.” She relayed how surprised she was at finding that the world wasn’t ready for ‘real women’ to be portraying fashion and becoming role models for younger women and girls. She says in her article from