Ashley Graham has had a stellar year, with the model securing influential fashion shoots, launching her own clothing line, being named one of Glamour's Woman of the Year and even immortalised with her very own Barbie – sans thigh-gap and all. So it comes as no surprise that the 28-year-old is now gracing her first British Vogue cover.
British Vogue wrote in a preview of the January magazine that "good looks, inimitable style and someone who feels relevant right now," is the perfect combination when it comes to making a cover girl. And with that in mind, Graham fit the bill.
![Ashley Graham at the Glamour Woman of the Year Live Summit 2016.](/web/20161209050646im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/q/9/2/f/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gt6iwy.png/1481236044339.jpg)
You would think that designers would do almost anything to dress Graham, given her success over the past 12 months, but editor Alexandra Shulman revealed in her magazine letter this was not the case. According to Shulman many fashion "houses flatly refused to lend us their clothes."
Shulman pointed out in her letter that fashion is moving towards body inclusivity, but the editor believes certain fashion houses are holding the entire industry back from achieving greater size diversity when it comes to models.
The companies that refused to dress the model were not named and shamed, instead Shulman celebrated Coach's involvement, saying they were "enthusiastic".
"The shoot was put together fairly last-minute and we are all very grateful to the people at Coach who, under the creative direction of Stuart Vevers, moved speedily to provide clothes for us that had to come from outside their sample range," she said.
"They were enthusiastic about dressing a woman who is not a standard model, but sadly there were other houses that flatly refused to lend us their clothes."
The incident highlights the industry's continual battle with narrow beauty standards, despite growing demand for greater diversity. We just need to look at the recent Victoria's Secret runway to realise that diversification is still being superseded by unattainable body ideals.
And designers' reservations aren't exclusive to models. This year, Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones and Orange is the New Black's Dascha Polanco both spoke out about the discrimination they have faced from fashion houses.
"It seems strange to me that while the rest of the world is desperate for fashion to embrace broader definitions of physical beauty, some of our most famous fashion brands appear to be travelling in the opposite — and, in my opinion, unwise — direction," wrote Shulman.
It is no secret that sizeism is alive in the industry, something that Graham has been actively advocating against her entire career.
"For 10 years I'd been told I was always going to be a catalogue girl, never a cover girl," she told Vogue's contributing editor, Christa D'Souza.
"If you have a pretty face doors will open, but your job isn't just to walk through them, it's to get invited back."
Graham also revealed that she does not like the term "plus-sized," which she has become synonymous with over the years.
"When we're supposed to be talking about diversity for women, it feels so divisive and purpose-defeating, giving us yet another label," she said.
"Do I sometimes wish I were thinner? God, in the old days, absolutely I did, but now I feel that to lose weight would be disloyal to myself," she explained. "A lot of who I am is connected to my size, and I am so happy with who I am."