Inga Eiriksdottir, 30, felt devastated at age 22 when she had to transition from being a «straight-size» model to a plus-size model.<\/p>\n
Despite dieting and giving up tennis \u2014 which added frowned-upon muscle to her frame \u2014 the Greenwich Village beauty’s healthy weight gain sent her from a size 2 to a size 6, leaving her unmarketable as a conventional model.<\/p>\n
But after eight years with a successful plus-size career, now as a size 10, Eiriksdottir’s transition has proved to be a godsend \u2014 as high-paying and high-profile jobs typically reserved for models who wear a size 2 or smaller are increasingly going to fuller-figured models, insiders said.<\/p>\n
In recent months, agencies have begun removing the label «plus-size» from their models and have pushed them for castings in runway shows as well as major fashion editorials and advertising campaigns.<\/p>\n
«I have literally gone on more castings in five months then in the last 10 years of my career,» said Ashley Graham, 26, of Brooklyn, who has been dubbed a plus-size supermodel.<\/p>\n
Graham, Eiriksdottir and the other top plus-size models founded the group ALDA (which means «wave» in Icelandic) in June 2013 to promote size diversity in modeling.<\/p>\n
This year Graham, a size 16, graced the cover of Elle Quebec’s June issue. She was hand-picked by Carine Roitfeld, the global fashion director of Harper’s Bazaar, for a fashion editorial in the magazine and has four more editorials on the way.<\/p>\n
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\nInstagram\/JulieHenderson32Since co-founding ALDA and moving to IMG Models, plus-size model Julie Henderson said she feels anything is now possible, including booking mainstream fashion editorials and campaigns.<\/p>\n
Julie Henderson, another ALDA model, has also booked an «editorial in a major fashion magazine,» but was not permitted to name it.<\/p>\n
«I have gotten a whole new realm of ‘everything is possible,'» Henderson said.<\/p>\n
A plus-size model from Muse Management recently booked «a major global campaign,» that will launch in three months, according to Becca Thorpe, who runs the plus-size division at the agency. She declined to give further details.<\/p>\n
«There will come a time when we won’t be talking about plus-size verses straight-size, older verses younger,» Thorpe said.<\/p>\n
ALDA was formed after Ford Models in New York dissolved its plus-size division last summer, leaving Graham, Henderson, Marquita Pring, Danielle Redman and Eiriksdottir without representation. ALDA also has plans to promote a healthy self-esteem in girls everywhere through workshops, lectures and events, starting with a fundraiser on Thursday night in Chelsea for Rwandan charity Komera.<\/p>\n
lo
\nInstagram\/Ingaerla
\nInga Eiriksdottir started out as a straight-size model, but at 22 years old she switched to being a plus-size model.<\/p>\n
The women formed ALDA and then approached IMG Models \u2014 which reps straight-size supermodels Gisele Bundchen and Karlie Kloss \u2014 as a group and signed with the agency in January.<\/p>\n
They said they saw IMG’s lack of traditional experience with plus-size models \u2014 who are generally size 10 and larger \u2014 as a plus. The agency had no specific plus-size division and only one plus-size model at the time they joined.<\/p>\n
«I just wanted to be considered a model, and I didn’t want to be labeled,» said Pring, who has been a «curvy girl» model since she was 15. «I don’t see myself any differently from the other girls whether skinny or plus.»<\/p>\n
Demand for clothing size 14 and up increased 7 percent in the past 12 months, totaling $17.6 billion in sales, according to David Riley from market researchers comapny the NPD Group.<\/p>\n
ALDA’s goal is to land their models in a mainstream fashion or beauty campaign with companies like L’Oreal or Pantene, a coveted position that has not yet been held by a plus-size model.<\/p>\n
«Why don’t we have curvy girls in the hair campaigns \u2014 it’s about the hair?» said New York-based Redman. She also wants to see plus-size models in Sports Illustrated.<\/p>\n
Insiders say they’re already starting to chip away at another hurdle for plus-size models: the runways at New York Fashion Week.<\/p>\n
ashley graham
\nInstagram\/TheAshleyGraham
\nMany people consider Ashley Graham a supermodel to the plus-size community.<\/p>\n
One of IMG’s first moves after signing the five ALDA members was to submit them along with straight-size models for February’s Fashion Week.<\/p>\n
The unprecedented move grabbed headlines and caught designers and casting directors off guard, according to models and fashion insiders. Still, none of the plus-size models were cast for the runways, despite big name designers such as Michael Kors and Calvin Klein having plus-size lines in stores.<\/p>\n
But as agencies push their plus-size models for jobs normally reserved for straight-size girls, fashion designers will be pressured to use them, according to Catherine Schuller, a former plus-size model who now runs fashion events that promote diversity.<\/p>\n
Runways shows and editorial shoots typically rely on sample clothing, which comes from designers in a size 0 or size 2.<\/p>\n
But as the models start reflecting normal sizes, designers will have to start making samples to fit their curvy frames, Schuller said.<\/p>\n
«I am just waiting for a designer to have the balls to do that,» she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Inga Eiriksdottir, 30, felt devastated at age 22 when she had to transition from being a «straight-size» model to a plus-size model. Despite dieting and giving up tennis \u2014 which added frowned-upon muscle to her frame \u2014 the Greenwich Village beauty’s healthy weight gain sent her from a size 2 to a size 6, leaving […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":11285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2061,1736,1499,600,1153,1739,1172,2062],"class_list":["post-11284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alda","tag-ashley-graham","tag-curvy","tag-img","tag-img-models","tag-julie-henderson","tag-plus-size","tag-robyn-lawley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11286,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11284\/revisions\/11286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}