Ashley Graham Speaks Out on ‘Disheartening’ Shift Away From Body Acceptance Movement

Supermodel Ashley Graham has landed the cover of Marie Claire’s “The Motherhood Issue.” In the cover story, the entrepreneur, author and mom of three opened up about her family life, including her relationship with husband Justin Ervin and the couple’s experience raising their three boys, Isaac, Roman and Malachi.

Graham, 38, is known for championing the body acceptance movement through her work, and the Nebraska native is a staunch advocate for plus-size representation in the fashion industry. And in the new interview, Graham opened up about her feelings on the rise of weight-loss drugs and less diversity on the runway these days.

“It’s really disheartening,” she told the outlet of the rising popularity of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and lack of representation on the catwalk. “There was a pendulum that swung that was so body acceptance, positivity, everybody be who they want to be. And now it’s going back this whole opposite way that feels like a smack in the face to the women who have felt like they’ve had a voice.”

Though the pressure to be thin within the fashion industry (and in general) is nothing new, Graham expressed that she has not lost hope where the body positivity movement is considered.

“There’s so many [plus size influencers and creators] … they’re all over the place with their sizes and their proportions and how they look and how they’re relatable,” she added. “And to me, that’s the coolest part about all of this. Seeing that these girls, who were raised on social media at such a young age are now coming in and they have a platform to say to the younger generation, ‘Be yourself, be who you want to be. If you have cellulite, who cares?’"

Last fall, Graham launched a JCPenney line exclusively for curves, with the intention to “finally [give] curvy women the screen time and main character energy they deserve,” per a press release at the time. The collection, which features tops, pants, skirts, outerwear and more, is just one example of the model’s continued push for inclusion within the fashion industry.

“It’s incredibly important to continue to advocate for women of all shapes, all sizes, and all backgrounds to have clothes that fit … to have people who don’t have confidence, have confidence in themselves,” she stated. “I also don’t think that my community is just curvy women. I think it’s all kinds of women because, really, confidence at the end of the day, it doesn’t discriminate.”

Read Graham’s full interview with Marie Claire here.

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