Ashley Graham Biography

Ashley Ann Graham (born 1987) is an American model. She is best known as a lingerie model for the plus-size clothing store Lane Bryant. She has appeared on the cover of Elle Quebec. Graham appeared in fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, and Latina. In addition, she appeared in several Levi's campaigns. Graham has appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Entertainment Tonight, and CBS News and was interviewed by NPR about plus-size modeling. In 2016, she became the first plus-size model to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Early life

Graham grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. She has two younger sisters. She attended Scott Middle School from 1999 to 2002 and attended Lincoln Southwest High School from 2002 to 2005. She was discovered in 2000 at age 12 by the I & I agency while shopping at Oak View Mall in Omaha, Nebraska while wearing her favorite team Minnesota Vikings jersey & jeans.

Career

In 2001, Graham signed a deal with Wilhelmina Models, after attending from a model convention. In 2003, she even signed a deal with Ford Models. During her early career, Graham appeared in YM magazine. In April 2007, she was profiled by Sally Singer of Vogue magazine and then appeared on the October 2009 issue of Glamour editorial 'These Bodies are Beautiful at Every Size', along with plus-size models; including Kate Dillon Levin, Amy Lemons, Lizzie Miller, Crystal Renn, Jennie Runk and Anansa Sims. In 2010, Graham appeared in a controversial Lane Bryant TV commercial. The commercial received over 800,000 views on YouTube and was reported on each news outlets, such as The Huffington Post and the New York Post. On May 31, 2010, she appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, to address the controversy.

In December 2010, Graham also appeared in an editorial for Bust magazine. Graham appeared in several Levi's campaigns, notably Curve ID SS 2011 with Sabina Karlsson, Ana Lisboa, Marquita Pring and McKenzie Raley, and Boyfriend Collection F/W 10 with Rachel Clark, Ana Lisboa, Anais Mali, Marquita Pring and Ashley Smith Graham has recently appeared in several Marina Rinaldi campaigns: Spring/Summer 2012, Fall/Winter 2012 denim, and Fall/Winter 2012 sport. The other clients includes Addition Elle, Bloomingdale's, Elomi lingerie, Evans, Hanes, Liz Claiborne Macy's, Nordstrom, Simply Be and Target. In December 2012, Graham was featured two of the Billboards at New York for Lane Bryant. Closing out the year, Graham was named the Full Figured Fashion Week's Model of the Year.

In 2013, Graham designed a lingerie line for Addition Elle, a Canadian plus-size clothing retailer. Graham even appeared on the MTV's Made, as a coach for an aspiring plus-size model. Graham appeared on the May 2014 issue for international's Harper's Bazaar pre-fall collection and beauty editorial. Graham was the cover model on the June 2014 issue of Elle Quebec. In 2015, in the "Swimsuits For All", a plus-size retailer for woman's swimsuits, features Graham in an advertisement in Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue. The ad became the part of the online retailer Swimsuits for all campaign and it carried the tagline caption "You've Got It. Flaunt It."

Charity and community service

Graham has spoken at high schools about body image and body acceptance. She has participated in humanitarian missions in South Africa with the Themba Foundation.

Personal life

Graham met her husband, Justin Ervin, a videographer, at church in 2009. The couple were married in 2010. Graham is a proponent of the Health at Every Size movement.