In a world where models are literally being told to “slim to the bone,” Ashley Graham’s success in the modeling industry is inspiring and encouraging. The rising star has been on pretty much every magazine cover from Cosmo to Sports Illustrated, proving that curvy girls can be sex symbols too. Unfortunately, even now that Graham landed her first Vogue cover, designers are still refusing to dress her.
In her monthly letter to readers, Alexandra Shulman, British Vogue’s editor-in-chief, expressed gratitude for Coach; the brand provided clothing for the shoot and was "enthusiastic about dressing a woman who is not a standard model." Sadly, Shulman also wrote that this wasn’t the case for every brand she approached. "Sadly there were other houses that flatly refused to lend us their clothes.” BRB, doing all my Christmas shopping at Coach.
"It seems strange to me that while the rest of the world is desperate for fashion to embrace broader definitions of physical beauty, some of our most famous fashion brands appear to be traveling in the opposite–and, in my opinion, unwise–direction,” Shulman said, calling out designers in the classiest way possible.
While the fashion industry definitely still isn’t as curve-friendly as we’d like, we’re so grateful for people like Graham and Shulman for giving a voice to plus-sized women in the world of fashion.