Supermodel Ashley Graham Is Much Shorter Than You Thought

For years, the fashion world was neither diverse in ethnicities nor in body types. Though supermodels like Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell shattered the mold in some instances, until very recently, in order to be a supermodel, you had to be very tall and extremly thin.

As the body positivity movement grew in the past decade, supermodels like Hunter McGrady and Ashley Graham began garnering more opportunities as people and models called for more diverse body types and for representation of what women look like from all walks of life.

Graham, in particular, has used her platform to write a book, have guests on her podcast, and to be someone that curvier women could look up to. However, she’s not quite as tall as you may have thought.

This is how Ashley Graham was discovered

Growing up in Nebraska, Graham had never thought about modeling until she was discovered by at Oak View Mall in Omaha when she was 12. By 2001, the 32-year-old was signed to Wilhelmina Models later signing with Ford Models.

For years, Graham worked doing campaigns for Hanes, Liz Claiborne, and Bloomingdales among many others. However, her big breakout was in 2016 when she became the first curve model to appear on the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover.

Since then, Graham has built her career on being as transparent as possible with her fans. “The more you’re vulnerable with the people you’re sharing with, the easier it is to be who you are. That’s why I always tell women, just be who you are. Don’t retouch your photos,” she told Today.

Ashley Graham calls herself a body activist

Though society has labeled Graham a “plus-sized” model, she is not at all a fan of that term. In a 2016 interview with Shape Magazine, Graham explained,

Why do we want to be put in a different category than all the other types of models? No one says ‘skinny model’, so am I wrong for not wanting a label? I don’t think so.

Graham also revealed that she thinks people should stop putting so much focus on size. “I believe you can be healthy at any size as long as you’re getting off the couch and moving your body,” she told Health. “I have been a size 10 and I have been a size 18. Regardless of the size, I’ve always been active because I know it’s the healthier version for me.”

Ashley Graham is much shorter than you thought

Despite her supermodel status, the mother-of-one isn’t actually as tall as you’d think. Graham stands at  5′ 9″ tall. This means that Graham is just one inch taller than the minimum height for female models in the fashion industry.

Still, like anything else she’s never let being a little different deter her from her dreams. On Naomi Campbell’s No Filter with Naomi YouTube series Graham said,

Of course you’re going to get negativity. It brought up a great conversation about what is health? What is beauty? What is sexy?

We’re excited to see what Graham is going to do next.