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The word 'supermodel' conjures up images of ultra-thinsilhouettes floating down the runway. But the term is finallybecoming more inclusive, as the phrase 'plus size' loses steam. With Alessandra Garcia – daughter ofHollywood star Andy Garcia – fronting lingerie campaigns at size12, Tess Holliday, size 22, gracing the cover of People magazine in 2015 and bombshell Ashley Graham, size 12, scoring the 2016 Sports Illustrated swimwear cover, themulti-billion dollar fashion industry has broadened its horizons,triggering the vertiginous rise of the curvaceous catwalk queen.
“The world is finally listening to us and companies are paying attention to what the consumer wants,” 30-year-old Tess, one of Vogue Italia's top five plus size models, and creator of the #effyourbeautystandards hashtag and Instagram account, tells HELLO!.
Tess Holliday, size 22, is one of Vogue Italia's top five curvy models Photo: Instagram.com/@tessholliday
It's a fact – morethan half the women in the U.S. wear either size 14 or up and, asAshley Graham, 29, points out in Plus Size? More Like My Size, a TED Talk that went viral,“Plus-size fashion is an $18 billion industry.” Naturally,designers from Calvin Klein to DKNY are finding the demandimpossible to ignore, which means greater representation for women of all sizes on the runway and in fashion magazines. Ashley hit a career highlight when she made her debut on the Paris Fashion Week catwalk in March 2016.
Gorgeous Alessandra Garcia, actor Andy Garcia's 24-year-old model daughter, believes in "flaunting what you've got" Photo: Getty Images
Alessandra Garcia is also enjoying a blossoming runway career. “I definitely believe in flaunting what you've got,” the 24-year-old tells HELLO!. “I love dresses that are cinched at the waist to show off my figure."
Helpingto promote a broader vision of beauty by modeling for brands such asSimply Be and Healthy Is The New Skinny, Alessandra counts onunconditional support from her famous father and the rest of herfamily and friends, but she tells us that the main source of herinspiration has been, “All of the strong and hardworking women in mylife. Seeing them pursue their dreams makes me work extra hard.”
“I'venever been interested in acting,” says Alessandra. “I was always more interested in fashion. Modeling sortof came to me by chance and it turns out I really enjoy it.”
Ashley Graham, size 12, made a splash on the front cover of Sports Illustrated's swimwear issue Photo: Sports Illustrated
SupermodelTess' radical success has also had a massive impact on boththe industry and our collective psyches. “Modeling is something Ialways wanted to do,” she says. “The push to do it wasthat I didn't see anyone that looked like me in the media or infashion. It wasn't until I started modeling that my relationship withmy body really changed.
"I found clothes thatsuited my personality and celebrated my body. And I met women in theindustry who were so radical and unapologetic about embracing whothey are now.”
Within the industry though, the debate still goes on about the widely-used term 'plus size'. Tess, an expectant mom who is releasing her own capsule clothing collection, mblm by Tess Holliday, has no problem with the label. “I'm plus-size. I embraceit, and I own it,” she says.
Ashley, though, is not sold on theterm, because of “all the negative stigmas that go with what theword plus size means,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “You're fat, you're lazy,you have no drive, no determination. They're stereotypes and that'sthe thing that I don't like.”
Butfundamentally, it seems, these beautiful, powerful women are of one mind.“Rolls, curves, cellulite. All of it. I love every part of me,”Ashley tells her TED Talk audience.
As Tess says, the only way to deal with critics is to get out there and demonstrate one's worth. “By showing the world thatbeauty doesn't fit into a perfect mold," she says. "It is whatever we want it tobe.”