“I think the breakthrough came on the heels of Ashley’s SI cover,” says White. Who needs a cosign from a stylist when you can inspire with a TEDx talk, or challenge beauty norms with a candid snap? Still, the acceptance of the establishment is powerful, especially when it starts a chain reaction the way Graham’s Sports Illustrated cover did. Most remarkable is that Graham has managed to consistently generate the kind of interest necessary for a supermodel-level career-but on her own terms. 2016 was a year that saw her walking Paris Fashion Week alongside Jourdan Dunn and Freja Beha Erichsen as part of H&M’s Fall 2016 Studio show, utilizing her millions of social media followers to share a message of body acceptance, and succeeding Tyra Banks as the resident model mentor on the reboot of America’s Next Top Model. Since making headlines after appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue, she’s been on a path toward global stardom. Graham’s reality has changed a great deal over the past 12 months. Maybe we saw one curvy model in one editorial in an entire year, or we were limited to a magazine's shape issue,” says Graham via email from her latest shoot. “For so long, curvy women have been a token in the fashion industry. Shattering accepted boundaries by booking the kinds of work that has previously eluded non-sample-size models, Graham was on a mission to change the types of beauty we see in media. While in the past some of her contemporaries have carved out successful careers doing commercial work and occasionally making waves in the fashion editorial world, few plus-size models have ever attained the level of attention Graham commanded throughout the year.
As a model, host, designer, and entrepreneur, Ashley Graham has been a presence in modeling for more than a decade, but 2016 handed her a true breakthrough. How do you shake up the fashion industry? By not taking no for an answer.
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