Ashley Graham Frees Her Nipple For SI To Promote New Collection
Ashley Graham has one agenda – to take over the world. By embracing the Free the Nipple movement, the plus size model has become a household name in the Sports Illustrated world as well as other more couture collections.
Her great sense of humor is probably her biggest asset when it comes to self-promotion and brand making. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Ashley Graham eagerly joined in on the popular Free the Nipple campaign, joking with the camera as she mimed lifting her top, finishing it off with a good-cheered giggle.
Knowing how the SI swimsuit model uses her body on Instagram to promote positive body image, her good-sport attitude towards the Free the Nipple movement is no surprise to her fans.
This also probably helps her drop a good word for her upcoming lingerie collection.
This is one of her many collaborations with Addition Elle in which she designs bras with great support for ladies who are curvier than others.
But her collaborations with brands does not end with lingerie. She also has designed collections with Dress Barn, making pieces that flatter all shapes, sizes, and shades.
“Ashley Graham showed off another glamorous look as she stepped out in New York,” reports Daily Mail. “The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit beauty flattered her curves in a bold print floral dress from her collection with Dressbarn as she made her exit from an event at the Pierre Hotel. The 28-year-old star covered her shoulders in a stylish biker jacket and sported nude heels as she headed to a waiting vehicle.”
Being a plus size model in an industry full of twiggy models means that she is constantly faced with criticisms and questions. When the SI swimsuit model became the cover model for Maxim, people got outraged over the fact that she may have allowed her body to get photoshopped.
Ashley Graham “became the first plus-size model to be featured on the cover of Maxim, posed with only a white button-down shirt draped against her body,” reports Washington Post. “Again, there was an immediate backlash — but this time, much of the criticism came from Graham’s fans and followers. They’re complaining she looked too perfect, a little too airbrushed — and not enough like her real, size-16 self.”
To that line of attack, the model was quick to come to her and her creative team’s defenses.
“I’m beyond proud to be the first curvy woman on the cover of Maxim,” she said. “I was not slimmed down on the cover, and Gilles Bensimon did an amazing job capturing my true figure in all of the photos. This is another major advancement for curvy women, especially those who work in the fashion industry who are working hard to get the recognition they deserve.”
It looks like to be a successful plus size model, she not only has to be fit, strong and beautiful, but also eloquent!
But being sexy has never been one of the SI model’s obstacles – it’s what comes to her most naturally! In the spread for Maxim, she also brought her husband on set to do some very risque poses that broke ground for the magazine.
“The 28-year-old model is Maxim’s latest cover girl and, in one particularly risqué pic, she poses naked while Ervin holds her bare breasts,” reports Entertainment Tonight.
“Yes, those are my husband’s hands supporting me,” the model said. “He supports me in more ways than one. What’s really funny is it was my husband’s idea to do that photo. We call it the Janet Jackson.”
She even brings him to VIP events so that they can continue building their relationship as her career is taking off.
Having her supportive husband by her side means that she can advance her career in ways that she could not possibly have imagined.
Do you think the SI model will now concentrate on making her image more public or on making new collection collaborations with brands? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
[Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images]
