2016 was the year of Ashley Graham. After more than a decade in the modeling industry, Graham caught the attention of the high-fashion world, repeatedly nabbing the kinds of jobs and invites that typically elude plus-size models. She walked in H&M’s Fall 2016 Studio Show alongside runway regulars like Jourdan Dunn and Freja Beha Erichsen. She designed her own lingerie collection in collaboration with Addition Elle. She claimed a seat at the America’s Next Top Model reboot’s judges’ table, effectively succeeding the great Tyra Banks as resident modeling guru. She made headlines thanks to her groundbreaking Maxim, Sports Illustrated and Cosmopolitan covers. She attended the White House Correspondents’ dinner. Mattel honored her with her own thigh gap-free Barbie likeness, Glamour named her one of its Women of the Year.
Graham has both benefited from and spurred on the industry’s growing trend toward diversity. In 2016, she made it her mission to help fans bolster their self-image, often through body-positive updates to her religiously followed Instagram. See below.
…just a theory. Your words have power, use them wisely when speaking to yourself!
A photo posted by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@theashleygraham) on
Don’t let the number inside your pants define you. #beautybeyondsize
A photo posted by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@theashleygraham) on
A photo posted by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@theashleygraham) on
A photo posted by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@theashleygraham) on
We have no doubt that Graham’s game-changing career and advocacy work will reach new heights in 2017. After all, she has already landed a historic British Vogue cover (which not only celebrated a more diverse standard of beauty but highlighted the idiocy of the industry’s outdated definition of sample size) and blessed us with a seriously inspiring Instagram post.
A photo posted by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@theashleygraham) on
On New Year’s Day, the 28-year-old took time out of basking on Seychelle’s sunny beaches with her incredibly lucky partner to share a message of gratitude and confidence with her followers. Beneath a derrière- and cellulite-flaunting photo taken on the Addition Elle runway, the supermodel wrote, “Walking into #2017 with boldness, excitement and confidence!! Thank you to all the people who helped me achieve so many of my goals, dreams and desires this past year! Dream big and get what you want…Happy New Year!”
What else is there to say but #goals?
[ via InStyle ]
