You may not know her, but she’s the face of body positivity, especially in the modeling world. Discover Ashley Graham, the woman who makes men fantasize about curvaceous women.
1 – She’s from Nebraska
Ashley was born in October 1987. She grew up and went to school in Lincoln, Nebraska. She attended Scott Middle School and Lincoln Southwest High School.
She was discovered at the age of 12 at Oak View Mall in Omaha by the I&I agency. At a very young age, she attracted the interest of photographers.
2 – Ashley Graham is a model
In 2003, Ashley signed with Ford models. However, in 2014, when Ford closed its Plus division, she stopped being represented by them. Currently, she’s signed with IMG models.
She has graced the covers of Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Sport’s Illustrated and Elle. She made history as the first plus-size model to appear in an advertisement for Sport’s Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2015. Then, a year later, she was on the cover.
This year, she became the first plus-size model to grace the cover of British and American Vogue.
3 – At the heart of a commercial controversy
Ashley Graham first came into the spotlight when she appeared in a Lane Bryant ad in 2010.
The ad received a lot of criticism. Ashley said the situation was sad because if these were Victoria’s Secret models, no one would have had a problem with it. The ad was later pulled from broadcast on FOX and ABC.
4 – She is married
Don’t be too sad, but our voluptuous beauty is a married woman with 3 children (including twins). She’s been married to her husband Justin since 2010. Justin works in the film industry. Although they are married, they live on different coasts as Justin works in Los Angeles and Ashley works in New York. However, Ashley says they don’t go more than two weeks without seeing each other.
When Ashley first brought Justin home, she hoped her family would be “color-blind”, but there are no miracles. But, after some time and a phone call from Justin to his grandmother, things changed. Now they’re happily married.
5 – Ashley Graham is an author
In May this year, Ashley published her first book. She wrote a memoir entitled “A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty and Power Really Look Like”. In her memoir, she shares personal essays followed by photos. She tells how the conversation about body positivity is changing and how she hasn’t let a number stop her from pursuing her dreams.
Ashley encourages people everywhere to be themselves. It doesn’t matter how big your boobs are or how flat your belly is. She reminds us that size is just a number and that we, as a society, need to look beyond the numbers.
What about you? Do you like sensual women like her, or do you prefer less curves like Cindy Crawford?
