Speaking about using fame for good at the Forbes 30 Under 30 summit in Philadelphia, Ashley Graham, the size 16 “gorgeous hunk of woman” – as she would like to be described – explained that she’s using her body “to let other women know that imperfections are ok; cellulite, rolls, curves, all of it, the things that jiggle that ‘shouldn’t be jiggling’ – it’s ok.”
Speaking to Yahoo at the summit, Graham goes on to tell of how her first shoot ever was a lingerie shoot that her super-chill mum had to sign a form for, saying they would airbrush out her nipples. The model’s first ever campaign for Lane Bryant was at 14 years old, and although her latest I Am No Angel campaign with them takes the piss out of a certain idealistic lingerie company, Graham would join said company in a second if they called her up. “I want young girls to know: I’m here for you,” she told Yahoo. “I didn’t have anyone growing up. I had my mom and she is amazing, but I didn’t have a celebrity or a role model in the fashion industry to look up to. So, I want to say I’m here for you. I’m doing the best I can. Join me. Let’s hashtag it away. Let’s Instagram it. Let’s talk about our body issues together. Because if we’re not doing it as a community, it’s not going to change.”
The 27-year-old, who debuted her own lingerie line with Addition Elle at New York Fashion Week just gone, continued with, “We’re in that generation that wants to cut down labels. We’re making sure that women and men are being called exactly what they should be called, and that’s ‘people.”