--- title: Meet the Woman Who’s Putting Real Curves on the Fashion Runway description: Ashley Graham is pushing the fashion world in a much more positive direction canonical: https://time.com/4029937/plus-size-new-york-fashion-week/ author: ashley Ross article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-11T21:24:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:07.785Z og:title: Meet the Woman Who’s Putting Real Curves on the Fashion Runway og:description: Ashley Graham's first stop is New York Fashion Week og:url: https://time.com/4029937/plus-size-new-york-fashion-week/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9ce36fa29b2786a/6988635e196cf42be1037fe7/ashley-graham1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1848 og:image:height: 1040 og:image:alt: NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 09: Model Ashley Graham attends the "Patrick Demarchelier" special exhibition preview to celebrate NYFW: The Shows for Spring 2016 at Christie's on September 9, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Morigi/WireImage) og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the Woman Who’s Putting Real Curves on the Fashion Runway twitter:description: Ashley Graham's first stop is New York Fashion Week twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9ce36fa29b2786a/6988635e196cf42be1037fe7/ashley-graham1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the Woman Who’s Putting Real Curves on the Fashion Runway > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Worth Your Time: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Worth Your Time is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more. 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Melinda Gates talks to TIME's Belinda Luscombe about the biggest problem for women in the workplace_ by [ashley Ross](https://time.com/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Sep 11, 2015 9:24 PM UTC  Model Ashley Graham attends the "Patrick Demarchelier" special exhibition preview to celebrate NYFW at Christie's in New York, on Sept. 9, 2015. Model Ashley Graham attends the "Patrick Demarchelier" special exhibition preview to celebrate NYFW at Christie's in New York, on Sept. 9, 2015. Paul Morigi—WireImage/Getty Images by [ashley Ross](https://time.com/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Sep 11, 2015 9:24 PM UTC Ashley Graham isn’t your typical model — in fact, she’s working hard to make sure you can’t define what ‘typical model’ means. “I really want to put some actual thick curves on the runway,” she says. The body positive activist is showing her own line of lingerie, which she designed with Addition Elle, in a Sept. 15 runway show at New York Fashion Week that will stray from what many have accepted as the norm by featuring curvier models. The model has long been an advocate for women of all shapes and sizes. Graham says she doesn’t get mad if people call her a “plus-size” model,” but she will roll her eyes. She prefers something a little more flattering: “There are so many adjectives that you could \[use to\] describe my body, but the one I love is curvy,” she says, laughing over the phone in between appointments leading up to NYFW. After appearing in a much-discussed Lane Bryant lingerie commercial in 2010 at age 22, Graham was thrust into the spotlight. She’s been featured on billboards in Times Square, in the pages of _Vogue_ and as one of the[ first curvier models](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/02/04/curvesinbikinis-ashley-graham-sports-illustrated/22892239/) in the _Sports Illustrated_ Swimsuit Issue. She’s also put herself forth as an activist, giving a [TedX Talk](http://time.com/3902544/ashley-graham-body-acceptance-talk/) about how the term “plus size” makes her feel like an outsider in the fashion world. Her presence and overall message is especially important in the fashion industry, where super toned supermodels constantly appear on [social media](http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2015/08/gigi-hadid-instagram-model-yolanda-foster) and [magazine covers](https://instagram.com/p/zTyb-dESrl/) and in [movies](http://time.com/3957540/cara-delevingne-paper-towns/) and [music videos](http://time.com/3882487/taylor-swift-bad-blood-video-reinvention/). People might not be letting go of the phrase “plus size” anytime soon, so Graham aims to change the conversation. She’s the face of a new generation of models, designers and celebrities who are rejecting the so-called skinny ideals and encouraging the public to embrace all kinds of women. Next up? Conquering New York Fashion Week. A handful of designers, like Chromat and Zana Bayne, have included models with curvier frames on the their runways, but they’re few and far between. Graham wants to take that a step further by designing the collection _and_ walking in the show. “Every woman in the show has a completely different shape and we wanted to show diversity of shape and ethnicity and that’s what curvy women are,” she says. “We are all shaped so differently, we are all different ethnicities.” Denise Bidot, a Puerto Rican/Kuwaiti model, who opened the Chromat Show in 2014, told [_Elle_](http://www.elle.com/fashion/news/a15557/plus-size-models-on-the-runway/) that she felt the 2014 fashion week set the bar high. “Finally, it was exactly what we’ve been begging the industry to do, which is just to stay a part of it.” But Graham doesn’t think it’s changing fast enough. “If we have more people talking about what media has told us is bad, like cellulite and rolls, then more people are going to love the skin they’re in,” Graham says. “Between ads like ‘this is the perfect body’ or you’re seeing the ‘skinny salad’ or jeans that tell you how to get the perfect butt, the media is still brainwashing.” Graham isn’t alone. Actress Melissa McCarthy, who said designers [wouldn’t dress her for the Oscars because of her size](http://time.com/2827773/melissa-mccarthy-started-a-plus-size-clothing-line-because-nobody-would-dress-her-for-the-oscars/), launched her own clothing line for women of all sizes, Melissa McCarthy Seven7 earlier this year. It’s now sold on HSN.com, where more than [1,400 jeans were sold](http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2015/09/09/melissa-mccarthy-fall-style-issue-exclusive/) in the first two hours it launched. “I just think, if you’re going to make women’s clothing, make women’s clothing. Designers that put everyone in categories are over-complicating something that should be easy,” she told [Refinery29](http://time.com/4000679/melissa-mccarthy-clothing-line-plus-size/). Graham notes that designers typically use samples made for size zero or two on the runway, so it takes more work to make something specific and special for a curvy model. Meaningful change won’t happen at NYFW unless designers adjust their process first. “It was not inclusive for a girl like me,” she says. “I think now things are really changing.” ## Transcript When a job opens up and you say hey theres this next job opening. A woman won't necessarily won't put her hat in the ring for that next rung up and you'll have ten men that say, whether I'm qualified or not, I'm ready for it. Women don't tend to see themselves as ready for the next role as, as they ought to. They doubt themselves. Whatever it is about self confidence, that's something I think we, you can absolutely work on and. In an organization. And I think it's up to the managers, men or women to reach down and pull those women up. And say, no you are ready for that promotion. Or you're at least as qualified as the other men. Put your name in the hat, whether you get the job or not, it'll be great experience for you to go for it and try it. For me it's all about making sure we lift up women [ UNKNOWN ] Because I feel like we have a chance to do that. We're talking about it as a world. There's a lot of conversation about it, we're moving in the right direction. But we need concrete action. I absolutely used my 50th birthday to look forward and say I basically have 25 maybe 30 great years of working life left. 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