A little over seven years ago, in February 2017, Ashley Graham was getting dressed in a furry cropped jacket and sweater dress to make history. She would be the first-ever curve model to walk Michael Kors's runway at New York Fashion Week.
“[I’m used to being] the only curved girl—I’m just excited that every designer and every magazine is going in the right direction," Graham told Vogue at the time. The Fall 2017 season seemed to her like a turning point in the long fight to make fashion more size-inclusive at every level. Beyond her debut Kors show, plus-size models were booking covers and catwalks. Brands were expanding their size ranges. "It’s not just one designer. It’s not just one model," Graham said. "It’s the wave of the future." It appeared that a one-size-fits-all mentality was finally starting to shift. Seven years later, the tides have turned.
