Ashley Graham
With her unforgettable face and voluptuous body, Ashley Graham quickly became one of the best known and most popular plus-size models working in the fashion industry. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Graham's career first took off when she was spotted by a talent scout for I & I agency while shopping at Oak View Mall in Omaha. By 2001, Graham had signed with Wilhelmina Models and was working full time. She switched to Ford Models two years later and saw her star continue to rise, appearing in major magazines like Elle, VogueSports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, which had seen very few plus-size models grace its pages. Graham made even bigger waves in 2010 when she appeared in a cheeky ad for clothing retailer Lane Bryant's lingerie line-which was pulled from circulation on some networks due to its mature tone, but nonetheless garnered over 800,000 views on YouTube. Graham also spoke regularly at high schools to teach teens about the importance of body acceptance, even as her fame rocketed further in 2016 when she was picked as the cover model for the 2016 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.