A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like - Paperback

by Ashley Graham (Author), Rebecca Paley (Author)

"Evocative." -- The Cut

One of the most outspoken voices gracing the cover of magazines today encourages women to be their most confident selves, recognize their personal beauty, and reach for their highest dreams in this wise, warm, and inspiring memoir.

Voluptuous beauty Ashley Graham has been modeling professionally since the age of thirteen. Discovered at a shopping mall in Nebraska, her stunning face and sexy curves have graced the covers of top magazines, including Cosmopolitan and British Vogue, and she was the first size 14 model to appear on the front of the wildly popular Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. The face of brands such as H&M Studio, she is also a judge for the latest season of America's Next Top Model. And that's only the beginning for this extraordinary talent.

Ashley is leading a new generation of women breaking ground and demolishing stereotypes, transforming our ideals about body image and what is fashionable and beautiful. A woman who proves that when it comes to beauty, size is just a number, she is the voice for the body positivity movement today and a role model for all women--no matter their individual body type, shape, or weight.

In this collection of insightful, provocative essays illustrated with a dozen photos, Ashley shares her perspective on how ideas around body image are evolving--and how we still have work to do; the fun--and stress--of a career in the fashion world; her life before modeling; and her path to accepting her size without limiting her dreams--defying rigid industry standards and naysayers who told her it couldn't be done. As she talks about her successes and setbacks, Ashley offers support for every woman coming to terms with who she is, bolster her self-confidence, and motivates her to be her strongest, healthiest, and most beautiful self.

In A New Model, Ashley gets real about her journey--and offers the tools every woman needs to build unshakable confidence.

• Body Positivity in Action: Go behind the scenes of a modeling career that has demolished stereotypes and redefined beauty standards for a new generation.
• Radical Self-Confidence: Learn to love the skin you're in with Ashley's honest and unfiltered stories about her own path to accepting her size, cellulite and all.
• An Inspirational Memoir: From being discovered in a Nebraska mall to gracing the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, Ashley shares the successes and setbacks of her groundbreaking career.
• Female Empowerment: Discover why rivalry and cattiness are the worst things women do to each other, and how getting together is the key to success for all of us.

Front Jacket

It All Starts With You. If You Don't Love You, Nobody Else Is Going To Be Able To.

When Ashley Graham became the first size 14 model to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, she broke a barrier many thought impenetrable. That's what this supermodel does--she tears down walls that have always existed around curvy women in fashion, showing the world that when it comes to beauty, size is just a number. Today, she is a voice for all who don't fit the old standards of the feminine ideal and is a change-maker in an industry that is often out of step with a majority of real women.

In A New Model, Ashley shares the story of her life and career, and her decision to break out of the shadows and fight against those "who feel entitled to weigh in with their opinions on other people's bodies"--including those who told her she'd never grace a magazine cover. Ashley reveals her struggles and how she has been supported by her family; how her husband, Justin, came into her life at a time when she was closed off to love; how she has coped with her food issues; how the fashion industry doesn't understand the curvy body; and how faith in a higher power helped her find her center and achieve more than she ever dreamed.

A New Model is an honest, inspirational, and surprisingly relatable story of a supermodel, yes, but also of an ordinary person who, like so many, has struggled with rejection, self-confidence, and self-image--and who wants to help every woman be her strongest, most confident, and most beautiful self.

--The Cut

Back Jacket

It All Starts With You. If You Don't Love You, Nobody Else Is Going To Be Able To.

When Ashley Graham became the first size 14 model to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, she broke a barrier many thought impenetrable. That's what this supermodel does--she tears down walls that have always existed around curvy women in fashion, showing the world that when it comes to beauty, size is just a number. Today, she is a voice for all who don't fit the old standards of the feminine ideal and is a change-maker in an industry that is often out of step with a majority of real women.

In A New Model, Ashley shares the story of her life and career, and her decision to break out of the shadows and fight against those "who feel entitled to weigh in with their opinions on other people's bodies"--including those who told her she'd never grace a magazine cover. Ashley reveals her struggles and how she has been supported by her family; how her husband, Justin, came into her life at a time when she was closed off to love; how she has coped with her food issues; how the fashion industry doesn't understand the curvy body; and how faith in a higher power helped her find her center and achieve more than she ever dreamed.

A New Model is an honest, inspirational, and surprisingly relatable story of a supermodel, yes, but also of an ordinary person who, like so many, has struggled with rejection, self-confidence, and self-image--and who wants to help every woman be her strongest, most confident, and most beautiful self.