Supermodel Ashley Graham, who prefers “curvy” or “curve” to “plus-size,” covers New York Magazine’s Fall Fashion issue, and talks to contributing editor Jada Yuan about her status as the only such model to become a true mainstream star: “I know I’m on this pedestal because of white privilege. To not see black or Spanish women as famous in my industry is crazy! I have to talk about it. I want to give those women kudos because they are the ones who paved the way for me.”
New York’s fashion editor-at-large Amy Larocca first saw Graham in person on the runway at the Michael Kors show in February, and was struck by her “very rare and very undeniable star power.” Larocca says: “Ashley is a lot like the original supermodels of the ‘90s, but she combines it with an incredibly upbeat, positive, and inclusive message. [New York photography director] Jody Quon had the brilliant idea to assign Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari to take the pictures, and Dolce and Gabbana let us raid their archives to dress Ashley. They had great chemistry together, and one of my favorite moments was when she took a break to check out the pictures on the monitor and made everyone promise not to retouch anything. I fully stand by our headline — she is definitely a supermodel for right now.”