Spring is such a beautiful season… flowers bloom and the skies open to beautiful sunshine.

In many ways the plus size industry has “bloomed” into a new season. We are seeing many more brands embrace diversity in their marketing, models making great strides in the main stream modeling industry and even our very own community is pushing the envelope and maturing within their respective careers.

One brand in particular that has been on this trajectory has been Ashley Stewart. I can still remember the first time I walked into the Fulton Street store in Brooklyn and seeing a mural of many beautiful plus-sized women on their wall. I had never seen anything like that before. Here was a beautiful store NOT afraid to showcase visibly plus sized women for all to see. This has always been the credo for this brand and now many years later they have bloomed into a powerful and respected brand among the industry. While the journey for the brand has not been without it’s setbacks, it’s how they thrived through those hard times that encourages me the most.

This month I’m so excited to feature Ashley Stewart’s model search winner Ilianna on our cover. A young lady who embodies passion, brilliance and hope for our future.

xoxo

Photo by Luke Jones
Madeline is wearing #WynneLayers by Marla Wynne