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Background:

After she was scouted in a modelling competition in Lincoln, Nebraska at the age of 12, Ashley Graham went on to break barriers in the fashion industry by becoming the first plus-size model to appear on the covers of both Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue and American Vogue.

“It started shifting the minds of agents, casting directors, art directors, editors to say, ‘Oh, this is where we’re going. The zeitgeist is turning, and it’s not just about what has been deemed beautiful for so long. Maybe we should think about what else is out there,’” she says.

This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed sits down with Graham to learn how she became the most recognisable face of a global cultural movement and understand the personal philosophies that have guided her along the way.

Key Insights:

• Raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, Ashley Graham’s career began when she was scouted at a local mall at the age of 12. Though she hadn’t seen her body type represented in media before, her upbringing equipped her with the self-confidence to pursue the path. “Because I had come from a very confident home, I was able to look at my body in the mirror and be okay with it,” she says.
• Graham’s breakthrough moment came in 2016, when she landed the cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue. A year later, Vogue came calling. “Vogue saw that there was an opportunity for monetising a size as well as different races and ages… the impact was so great for other plus-size models,” she recalls.
• Despite her success, Graham recognises that fashion still has a long way to go when it comes to representation, particularly when it comes to the clothes themselves. “There are so many designers that don’t know how to cut around a breast, a hip or a butt because they just have not understood what that actually means,” she says.
• When it comes to discovering your own confidence, Graham believes its internal validation that matters most. “If more people went inward instead of searching out for everything and really leaned into prayer, meditation, quietness, then they would have more enlightenment and confidence.”

Additional Resources:

• Squeezed by Rivals, Spanx Taps Ashley Graham to Embrace Celebrity Marketing: Graham will serve as the new face of the 22-year-old shapewear brand, which faces new challenges from upstarts like Skims.
• Op-Ed | Fashion Needs to Drop Its Elitism and Accept Plus-Size: The fashion industry is ignoring plus-size consumers out of old-fashioned elitism, but digital media is shaking things up, says blogger and Marie Claire columnist Nicolette Mason.
• A New York Fashion Week Mystery: What Happened to All the Plus-Size Models?: The city’s designers have long been at the forefront of promoting size inclusivity, but cast noticeably fewer “curve” models this season. One theory: the rise of Y2K style is bringing back the era’s body standards as well.