The Blossom Issue | English Version: The Sweet Life

I'm chatting with Ashley, I'm in Lisbon, she's in New York — or rather, somewhere on the  highway, on her way to the big apple, in the middle of New York Fashion Week. My tired look, reflecting the end of a day's work, contrasts with her fresh air, devoid of make-up, which matches her good mood. "I'm on my way to a Frame event," she shares. Later, the images of her arrival at the restaurant where the dinner was held will be everywhere — jeans and a leather jacket, invariably effortless and cool. This is the second time we've spoken, after she was in Portugal in November to receive the International Female Model award at GQ's Moty awards and to photograph this Vogue cover. As well as being obviously beautiful, what comes across on first contact is her friendliness. It's easy to get used to her addictive laugh and biting humor. In an industry that has, for decades, favored slim and lean bodies, despising those who don't meet the strict "86-60-86" metric, Ashley Graham (Lincoln, Nebraska, 1987) appeared like a pink tornado, transforming everything around her. For the better. Discovered at the age of 12 in a shopping centre, her explosive combination of beauty and charisma made her one of the most powerful women in the world — more than a top, Ashley is an icon; she believed in herself, more than in what people thought of her, and insisted on remaining "different", i.e. wonderful, until her name was synonymous with inclusion and positivity. In 2016 she was the first plus-size model to make the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine's most sought-after number, the Swimsuit Issue, the following year she published a memoir, A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like, has starred in dozens of campaigns and editorials, is an activist and a successful businesswoman (she has her own lingerie line), was a judge on America's Next Top Model, has a podcast, presents the recently premiered contest Side Hustlers (a kind of Shark Tank), is a mother of three, and was voted the sexiest woman in the world in 2023. .. Even so, she is still referred to as a "curvy model”. Doesn't she sometimes feel like telling everyone off and shout “haven't you realized I'm a model yet, what's with the curvy thing"? Ashley laughs: "That would be your words Ana, not mine. But sure, the sentiment is there.”

“I will always identify as a curvy woman. But I don’t feel there’s a need for a label around it. And also, are we introducing our thin friends as ‘oh, here comes my thin friend Rebecca?’ No! Or ‘Here’s my curvy friend Ashley’, I think as a society we are used to doing that, look at people and it’s not that we are judging them, but we are giving them a label, I’ve done it do, we all do it, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. I’m just here to make us all aware of it and why does the fashion industry has to do it, why is this label-obsession.” Despite all the advances made in the last decade, the industry still has a long way to go. It's obvious that the way we refer to our bodies, and the bodies of others, makes Ashley uneasy. “I hate that there’s a constant conversation around all of our bodies. Doesn’t matter what size we are, there shouldn’t be this idea of explaining who someone is because of the number inside of their pants. I never understood the labelling, I never liked it… […] I think what everybody needs to do is mind their own business. We need to be celebrating people for the accomplishments that they’re making and not on their exterior. The biggest problem that media has is reprising people of what is deemed their beauty. And I think that that is part of the traumatization of the youth right now. Everything is based on body, or your hair, your looks, and it’s not about who you are, how are you changing the world, and how are you being just a solid sound person. […] What we’re doing is we are glorifying an image instead of the heart of people. To your point of being too thin or too big, you never going to satisfy the masses. You can’t. I think it’s just about educating yourself about healthy for you, and yourself, and that’s why I say you need to mind your own business in the sense that people need to know what that is for yourself.” And she points out what she can do to help change this paradigm. “That’s why is so important for me to do jobs like the cover of Vogue Portugal and a beautiful story inside. I want not just younger girls but women my age, and older, to know that beauty comes in every form. Why stop because I had three babies, why stop because I am 36 years old, why stop because I am not big enough or thin enough for people? I’m just gonna keep going. The fashion industry open arms to me as much as they want but I’m making lanes for myself. And that is what I think is more important to stand firm for you have to work for yourself.”

There's one question we can't help but ask, given her huge platform: does she usually feel the weight, not of fame, but of the responsibility that comes with success? “There’s always this pressure, no matter how big you get, that there’s always somebody looking, there’s always somebody watching, there’s always somebody that’s gonna be influenced by you. And what is your influence doing? Is your influence really causing good and causing change within culture? I always think of my fans, followers, people who looked up and admired me for so long as my little sisters or my little brothers, my little siblings. Because growing up I was always the oldest, I had two younger sisters, and my mom always reminded me ‘they’re watching you, and everything you do they may act like they don’t like you and they may say they don’t like you, they may just be silent watching from the sideline, but everything you do has an impact on them.’ And it really stuck with me and it’s kind of how I see it. Even if you are younger than me, we are all in this together. I’m always trying to be mindful of what I am putting out on socials, what I am saying and how I am doing it. A way of thinking (and being) that runs in the family. Despite the glitz and glamour, Ashley Graham has both feet firmly on the ground. “I have to really thank my mom and dad. My mom and dad did such a good job of giving me a balanced life. I started modeling at such a young age, twelve years old. And we traveled, we lived in five different states growing up — it was in the last state that I got discovered, in Nebraska. I remember I started traveling to Germany every couple of months, I was missing school, having to fax my homework, but every time I would come home my mom would say ‘you got to move along’ and I’m like ‘mom I’m exhausted from my trip to Germany’ and she said ‘no, no, no, that’s not how we do it around here. By fourth grade I was doing my own laundry, the summertime we would go to my uncle’s house and we would help him harvest the corn, and it was just this constant normalcy of life. As fame grew and as I move to New York my parents never let me forget where I came from, they always reminded me — in gentle ways but also in strong ways. I always go back to that. And even now, being a parent, I always want to bring my kids back to a grounded sense of self. Because I really knew myself walking into a wild world, a wild industry, and I’m glad for it, I think that’s a testament to my career, to where I am today.” Ashley's speech is that of someone who has found herself. She was 12 when she started modelling. How has her path to self-acceptance evolved since then? “When I first started modeling at twelve years old I had no idea what I was signing myself up for. And when I say that, I mean a life of my body being talked about, picked apart, a conversation, when I’m heavy, when I’m skinny, all of these things. And if I would have known then what I know now what was gonna happen would I have signed up for this career? I’m not sure if a twelve year old can handle that, so I’m really glad I didn’t know. What I was most excited about was the fact that I had an opportunity of something that I hadn’t even heard of, modeling. And to be able to start at such a young age and now to be in my mid-thirties and to see how far I’ve come — and I do, I reflect all the time what did I think about my body when I was so young versus what do I think about now, I am much more aware of my body now and I am also much more accepting of my body now. I’ve had moments where I’ve been really proud of my body because I worked out hard or because of my mental state and I thought ‘ok, I got this, I got all this affirmation this figured out, let me go shout from the rooftops’ and then when I had my kids, three kids in two years, my body went into a different state and I didn’t recognize it and I had to kind of really pull myself of what I thought my body acceptance journey kinda was. I’m really proud of where I come because I’ve had multiple journeys and I’m excited that I’ve been able to have so many journeys  — at a such a I feel like a young age — and be able to talk about it with so many different people.”

In a parallel with the various phases we go through in life — and with Taylor Swift's tour, which prompted the question — what "era" are you in? There's a pause. "What era is this for me, babe?" she asks her husband. “I don’t know, it’s such a good question. I feel like I’m in my…. "building beyond what people know of me era.” Because I think for the last 15 years it’s been very easy for me to get like pieces of me that feel kind of like obvious, like body diversity, body acceptance, these things. But now there’s so much more behind the model — it’s the mum, it’s building businesses, it’s being a entrepreneur, financing businesses… You know kind of being a change-maker in other ways besides just like my body.” Another pause. “Justin just said ‘from the body era to the mind era’. That’s it.” And does this era still have room for fashion? Does she still enjoy the work — doing campaigns, photo shoots, catwalk shows? “It’s interesting because I’ve only done like five show seasons, this will be my fifth show season ever. If I go to Europe, yes. I’m very selective [laughs] and I love that I’m able to do that and I love being able to champion all the new models — I mean, unfortunately there’s not enough new models that are plus size on the runway, which I think is ridiculous, but that’s where the industry has not changed… But yes, I still really do enjoy modeling, I think that it’s fun, it’s a fantasy, it’s dressing up and being able to be somebody else, being dolled up, it’s the all idea of becoming somebody that has an ultra ego and I love that aspect of it.” So what is her Roman Empire [apart from the obvious meaning, "Roman Empire" refers to something you think about constantly, a desire or an obsession]? “I can’t just have one, I have my hands on too many different things. The thing that I always wake up thinking, though, is my family. My priorities completely shifted when I got pregnant with my first son who is now four, and then my twins, who are two, they are constantly on my mind. And I think they are a great motivation to just keep going and thriving. My kids are my Roman Empire, they my motivators to keep pushing through and be the best that I can, so that I can give them a life that I always wanted for my kids. But I have two goals that I think would be so major, as far as a model goes: a fragrance campaign, I think that would be absolutely incredible, and to shoot with Steven Meisel. It’s a dream of mine and so when it does happen I’m gonna be so grateful. So these are things that are on the bucket list.” We're just switching off when we remember something. Does Ashley consider herself an invincible woman? “I think there are days when I definitely feel like that and then there’s days when I’m spiraling and my husband has to talk me out the ledge and remind me who I am. Because, what person doesn’t have those moments?”

Translated from the original in The Blossom Issue, published March 2024. Full stories and credits in the print version.