Ashley Graham: Best wishes to the model who has made peace with herself
The model plus-size par excellence, now expecting her first child by her husband director of photography Justin Ervin, today, 30 October 2019, turns 32. Doe eyes, sinuous body and a confidence that exudes from every photo on Instagram. Without make-up, in costume, semi-naked, with super tight clothes and, at times, even sweaty, Ashley shows up on social media without tricks or deceptions, keeping away from Photoshop. But it wasn't easy, as she tells herself. The model, as she wants to be defined, neither over-sized, nor curvy, only a model beyond the labels, admits that she had to struggle so much to come to accept and love herself for what she is. Years and years of unsuccessful diets have convinced her to lay down her arms in what was a war against herself, realizing that in each of us there is a potential that goes beyond the physical and is what we come for. really loved.
Below is a video that explains Body Positivity, the movement that teaches us to love ourselves as we are.
Ashley and her battle against the exclusion of plus sizes from the fashion system
Today, among the 100 most influential people in the world according to Time, he is a role model for those girls and women of all sizes who have always suffered from a serious disorder that affects thousands of people every year: non-existent self-esteem. Many thanked her for giving them the courage to get back in costume after years of covering up and hiding.
Ashley was discovered in a shopping center at the age of twelve by a modeling agency, she signed a contract for For Models Agency and in 2012 she posed for Addition Elle, a Canadian plus size clothing brand that she also partnered with for an underwear line called Purple Rain. The model is very sensitive to the issue of sizes and fights relentlessly so that the big brands are activated in the creation of garments that go beyond sizes up to 46 or, worse, to 44. It is not right to relegate over-size fashion to sectoral shops, every woman must have the opportunity to buy the clothes she likes most, even luxury ones, without the shape of her body necessarily being an obstacle.
A revolutionary discovery: you can be curvy and keep fit without the two being mutually exclusive
Being curvy doesn't necessarily mean sitting on the couch eating chips all day. Ashley, who was the first plus-size model to appear on the cover of the magazine in 2016 Sports Illustrated, dispels this myth every day, sharing with his followers on Instagram the healthy dishes he eats and the hard fitness workouts he constantly dedicates himself to. And it does it not to lose weight or to defeat the cellulite which, on the contrary, it has repeatedly shown with pridebut to feel good about herself, feel energetic and show that "We, big girls, are equally flexible and strong". Furthermore, on 28 October it inaugurated a format entitled "Thank Bod with Ashley Graham " on his YouTube channel where he uploads video tutorials of his gymnastic exercises. In doing so, Ashley responds to all the criticisms, sometimes conveyed in the form of insults, which portray her as an obese woman and a negative role model for health.
Not just a model, but also a model for all of us
Even today, when she is expecting her first child, Ashley shows herself in all her naturalness and vulnerability, sharing, step by step, the long path of acceptance of her own body. The supermodel, who also published the book in 2017 "A New Model" in which, among other things, he tells of a difficult childhood due to a violent and absent father, he claims that "Beauty is beyond dimension" and inspires countless women to say “I love you” every day in front of the mirror.
Thanks Ashley, not just a model, but a model for all of us.