‘People laugh in my face when they find out I’m a model’

Plus size model Tess Holliday talks the realities of life as a size 24 model…

Tess Holliday has graced multiple magazine covers, walked in fashion shows around the world and boasts over 1.5 million Instagram followers. But still she struggles to be taken seriously in her industry.

The 32-year-old model recently opened up about the realities of being a size 24 model in an interview with The Independent, calling for change.

‘You won’t see anywhere near as many plus-size girls on the catwalk as you should,’ she explained to The Independent. ‘Designers are either not interested in making larger sizes or they don’t feel that it’s important.’

She continued: ‘I know there’s a capability for these designers to make clothes in bigger sizes and I think it would be really great to be seeing that. Myself and a lot of other people have money to spend and we would like to have more options.’

And according to Tess, even the labels that are making plus sized clothing could do a lot more for the cause, explaining, ‘We’re not seeing them casting plus size girls in their campaigns or shows which is very frustrating.’

‘Every single month, every single season, plus size fashion gets better,’ plus size model Hayley Hasselhoff agreed in an interview with InStyle UK. ‘It’s amazing for me to be able to work with different brands that I’ve worked with maybe five years ago and see the progression that they have had.’

She continued: 'I think that the biggest thing now is really understanding what plus sized girls want. They want what’s on trend, but also to not feel like someone has just made the smaller designs bigger. They want something that’s tailored to their size, fitted to their figure and in the right fabric. I’m hoping that high street will jump on that bandwagon and understand that a girl still wants her outfit tailored to her properly - no matter her size.’