We have had quite the run this fall-season with magazine mentions and we are thrilled! All this coverage is proof that the mainstream fashion industry is on there way to featuring more plus sizes in their pages.

Thank you so much for your support and keep shopping with us, and we’ll keep working hard to bring you more exclusives and stylish shopping options – we can’t do it without you!

Here at Madison Plus, we’ve have had our eye on Erika ever since our 2010 City Street Blues editorial featuring the gorgeous model. Check out the Glamour Beach Edition cover of Erika below and the behind the scenes video of the photo shoot!

Congratulations to Erika and we are truly looking forward to seeing the editorial within the magazine!

There will be more to come on the Hungarian Glamour Beach editorial with Erika!

If you would like to see more of Erika visit her personal page at www.erikademmer.com.

Photographer: MARCEL GONZALEZ-ORTIZ
Makeup: BERNADETT TITKOS
Hair: VIKTOR NAGY

The beautiful Wilhelmina Curve model Robyn Lawley bares all for the March issue of Glamour Magazine.

I will be running to my mailbox to get my copy once I am back from Vegas!

Images sourced here.

You have built much success as a working plus model, it takes a lot of dedication and hard work to keep your self current in a market where there is always a new face, how do you do it? whats your secret?

I wouldn’t say I have a secret, but I always compare modeling to any other job you might have: learn the skills, stay on top of the trends and carry yourself with the confidence that you know what you’re doing! And just like in any regular job, you should perform at the level you are aspiring to get to. To apply the analogy to modeling, it’s important to practice poses, stay on top of fashion trends, and the confidence part should be a given! It’s also really important to study models that are successful to see what kinds of pictures they’re taking and how they’re posing. I definitely practice all of the above. I also think it’s always extremely important to let your (positive) personality show, and to always treat everyone you encounter with kindness, consideration and respect.

Congrats on your piece in Glamour Magazine, tell us about the experience getting your Glamour swipe?

Thank you! Working with Glamour was great, their team is really fantastic and I had a lot of fun shooting for them. After I booked the story, I had to go to their office to be fitted in the dresses they wanted to use. That was a little nerve-wracking because I was in their Closet, which was full of other people cataloging clothes, shoes and accessories that had arrived that day. I had to change behind a clothing rack, and pose for pictures in front of a door amidst everyone coming and going. At first I felt like I was in the way, but everyone was so nice that soon I was able to relax.

When I arrived on set, the first thing I noticed was that they were shooting all the different girls on the same day (straight sized, petite) but they treated all of us with the same attention. This was my first time shooting for Glamour and the vibe was really relaxed, not at all what you might expect from such a big production. It was such a great experience; I hope I get to work with the Glamour team again soon!

With the increase popularity of plus size models, have you noticed an increase in work? or is there more competition for jobs?

I feel like there is more work and more competition! But that’s a good thing, because it gives more girls the opportunity to follow their dreams and raises the standard of plus modeling as a whole. I think that as more brands see that plus models are as amazing as straight sized models when it comes to look and skill, they will use us more and more. I’m completely optimistic that the new opportunities will continue!

Describe your dream photoshoot?

I’d love to do a fashion shoot with wild animals, or a swimsuit editorial in an exotic location. And on the opposite side of that, I’d also love to shoot a campaign for a brand like Anthropologie or Banana Republic, standing next to a straight sized model.

How have you discovered your style?

I moved to New York 2 years ago from Ohio, and there has been so much fashion inspiration everywhere! I generally just try and take what I see other people doing and make it my own. My outfits need to be easy and comfortable, so I generally pair one or two basic items with something that makes a bit of a statement. Right now I’m in love with kitten heels because they add a touch of height and style without being uncomfortable. And I’m a big fan of bangles, all year round!

Finish The Sentence

Always…say please and thank you, hold doors for strangers, try and make people laugh and find your happiness within yourself.

Never…forget your umbrella, hold a grudge, or forget the people who helped you accomplish your goals.

You can contact Sara Alloy though her agency IPM Models.

Do you want to be our next Fresh Face model? Send your professional photos to info@madisonplus.com

Photography by: Olan Montogmery, Roberto Ligresti, Tonya Jeter, and Lucas Jones

Images: Kristina V Photography

Why did you decide to pursue a career in the modeling industry?

Growing up in Russia I never associated myself with models. But I noticed that I was photogenic. When I moved to United States I realized I can be whoever I wanted to be. I was in love with fashion and I started to assist fabulous celebrity stylist Fifi Bell. One day I was unpacking jewelry for editorial shoot and Fifi looked at me and said: “You would be a perfect plus-size model”. It sounded like fun. That same evening I decided research about plus-size modeling and it turned out that my body proportions were perfect fit. I went to a couple of agencies and got accepted at one immediately. I started doing photo shoots, runway shows, trying different looks…so I can’t stop anymore:)

What is the best piece of industry advice you have been given?
At the beginning of my career I had difficulties to keep my eyes open when the flash went off. Professional lighting can very bright. The secret is to stay straight and open your eyes very wide almost trying to touch your eyebrows with your eyelashes.

Image: Andrey Malov

How are you practicing your modeling technique? Do you draw from any specific inspiration?
First of all I practice in front of the mirror. Then testing with photographers is a great practice. It is very important in plus-size modeling to find a talented photographer who understands body proportions and lighting. I have a friend who is a photographer, who always supports my ideas. By the end of the shoot we always discuss and analyze what angles, faces, poses work best for me. My 12 years of experience in ballroom dancing  inspires me  a lot and helps me to move and pose with proper posture. I remember my beautiful ballroom dresses, competitions, excitement of performance and I project this into my modeling.

Images: (L) Tony Armstrong (R) Oliver Christie

Growing up in Russia what are the views on body image versus in the United States?

World’s famous stereotype about Russian women is that they are 6 feet tall, blond, wearing size 0. This is not what the reality is. Body image is mostly determined by the society you live in. During my teen ages there was no fast food, average family income was low and everybody was pretty thin. But later when the economy changed, food supplies became better, incomes were growing and many families got the opportunity to consume as much as they wanted. Changing in a consumer culture created a variety of body types as well. For some reason all the media, magazines were telling us to stay skinny.

Then it was an another stereotype that originally real Russian beauty is associated mostly with full body than a skinny teenager’ body. That was my favorite one. I always was the tallest girl everywhere at school and in college and had an athletic body. I skied, figure skated, played tennis and danced. However I experienced difficulties to find beautiful clothes for myself. All the retail stores supplied clothes up to size 8-10. Bigger sizes looked shapeless and not modern. When I moved to United States I was very happy to see that women can enjoy life the way they are. Designers think about all of us: tall, petite, skinny and curvy. And I was very pleased to see Crystal Renn fighting for the variety of models on a runway; multiple publications of models representing beautiful real women in Glamour and others magazines. Lately I see Russian media, bloggers and my friends discussing this tendency too. And many of them think that it is great!

Image: Oliver Christie

What does Madison Plus mean to you?

Madison Plus is a great resource for news from all over the world about fashion industry for curvy women. It helps me to discover new designers, read up on great style advice, meet people in the industry, and I always have a great time on MP events. I’m very grateful to Aimee, Erica and Kari for all the support they are giving me through my modeling career. That’s priceless.

Finish The Sentence

Always… Know what you want.

Never… let anybody make you doubt yourself. “A woman who is firmly aware of her beauty, will be able to eventually convince all the others” – Sophia Loren.

Would you like to work with Marina? Please email her at bezhaeva@gmail.com

Would you like to be our next Fresh Face? if so please send your professional photos to info@madisonplus.com.

OneStopPlus.com has brought in a famous face to represent their brand. Plus Model Emme is their new brand ambassador. Emme is one of the first plus size models in the fashion industry and has graced the pages of People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” issue and has been named Glamour Magazine’s “Woman Of The Year”.

OSP is already putting Emme to work with a recent appearance on The Insider where she shares her thoughts on all the TV shows like The Biggest Looser, Dance Your Ass Off and Huge.

As you can see from these behind the scenes pic’s below that, that is Crystal’s natural body. It should not be surprising that she is photoshopped like any other model and its easy to see that she was here as well.

As a woman, who like Crystal, has struggled with her relationship with the gym/working out for her whole life (to me it equates with being overweight) it just pulls at my heartstrings when I see the backlash she has received for grabbing hold of her life and letting herself develop to who she wants to be. Being hard on anyone in regards to weight is never a positive thing and through my personal experience it does not ever help the issue. – Aimee

So I encourage you to take a moment and read through the full interview with Crystal at Glamour.com.

What do you think of plus model Grace St. John’s afforadable chic looks?

Glamour Magazine just posted a interview with Crystal Renn, in response to all the feedback they have been getting from their viewers about where Crystal curves have gone.

“You have three very thin beautiful famous women on your cover…Shame, shame, shame,” posted one commenter. Another assumed we’d photoshopped her to look smaller. (For the record: NO.) And a blogger asked: “When will fashion magazines realize that these are not ‘real women’?”

I am just pleased that magazines are featuring girls who have a healthy understanding of their body, and Crystal does that perfectly regardless of what size she is.  She is an ideal example of the struggles the most women experience and the continued struggle she goes through personally to achieve what works for her. So lets look at her for the impact that she is having on creating discussion of body awareness, forget the size.

Like Crystal I too am working on redefining my relationship with “working out” and I personally like knowing that I am not the only one who has this struggle. I am pretty sure I am real too, I just pinched myself to make sure.

“When it comes to my weight, I understand the public’s confusion,” she emailed me last night. “Like all women, I fluctuate. Especially considering I had just come back from a 3 week backpacking trip in Patagonia. In the past I have been quite open about the fact that I haven’t started an exercise regimen since having the eating disorder because of the uncomfortable feelings associated with it. However, because I am in such a good place with my body and mind I have been reintroducing it back into my life through adventure travel, and plan to continue this in the future. – From Glamour.com

Let me know your thoughts about this? I find it so fascinating and I can go on for hours chatting about it.

Read the original article here.

Crystal Renn is one of the cover girls on the June issue of Glamour Magazine.  She is joined by Alessandra Ambrosio and Brooklyn Decker.

This swimwear editorial titled “Every Body is a Hot Body”  promises to push the boundries of how swim is featured in magazines. Crystal Renn starts off the editorial featured in a Zimmerman one piece.

It’s great to see Crystal in the mix with straight size models, its what we have been asking for and we are thrilled to see it.

Photographer: Matthias Vriens-McGrath

Read more at Ford Models Blog and at Glamour.

What do you think of Crystal Renn’s newest editorial?

Today Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) confirmed that the twitter pics were from Glamour’s June cover shoot! The shoot was done in the Carribean by photographer Matthias Vriens-McGrath. This is the first time Glamour has had models on its cover (instead of celebrities) since 2006!  We are so happy to see that for their first model cover they are using plus model Crystal Renn! Congrats Crystal!

Check out an additional picture below of Brooklyn Decker and Alessandra Ambrosio getting their hair and makeup touched up!

What do you think of this model trio Glamour cover?

Congrats to Grace St. John for the great editorial and we are looking forward to seeing even more of her!

Would you try this makeup look?

There is a fabulous article in the UK newapaper  The Independent,  which addresses the increase in plus/real sized models who are now being requested for the runways, and photoshoots.

“There is now a real ripple of interest around models that are different from the standard catwalk model, who is too thin.”- Caryn Franklin

We want fashion to enhance women’s self-esteem. I’m delighted that Mark is using larger girls because it means [his last show] wasn’t a novelty to get everyone talking but a real commitment” – Caryn Franklin

All this increased attention is due to V Mag, Glamour Mag, Mark Fast, blogs, Karl Lagerfelds comments, and I am sure the photo from Sao Paolo fashion week did not help either.

Its great to see the modeling agencies responding by hiring more plus models for their boards

“The plus-size market used to begin at size 14, while the standard finished at 10. But there is now a lot more work for size 12 and up. We took on 20 more girls last year, which is a lot.”  - Sarah Travers

The time is now, if you want to get into plus modeling!

You can also read more at NY Mag

What do you think of the article?

Lizzie Miller’s famous shot in Glamour
This now famous shot of Lizzie Miller in Glamour Magazine, who knew when opening up Glamour Magazine to page 194 would cause such a stir. Her photo showed confidence and a body that the majority of women in the US have. By Glamour receiving such feedback from their readers about how much the shot of Lizzie meant to them, this gave the momentum needed to then create the fabulous November issue picture.

Check out our original article here.

Plus size nude model spread in Glamour
After Glamour magazine realized how hungry women are for more realistic images of themselves, they put together a fabulous nude spread of all the top names in plus modeling! Crystal, Kate, Ashley, Anansa, Lizzie, Amy, and Jennie.

I love how Glamour featured the models, just as they are pure and beautiful!

Check out our original article here.

Crystal Renn’s big year with the book hungry
Its never easy digging through your past and then sharing it with the world, Crystal Renn decided to take a stand and share her experiences working in the straight size modeling industry and her battle with anorexia to being one of the most successful plus models ever. I highly recommend any aspiring model to buy the book and learn from her experiences

Check out or coverage of her fabulous book here.

Mark Fast’s runway show
Mark Fast, a fabulous Canadian knitwear designer based in London, decided to take a risk and feature plus woman on the runway, not for any reason more than he liked their personalities and their walk.  He ended up receiving a lot of backlash for this move but it sure got the ball moving in regards to discussion of the lack of plus model representation during fashion week.

Brigitte announcing they will only use real women
Brigitte, took such a bold step with this declaration that they will only use real woman.  It caused ripples throughout the industry. They decided it was time to take a stand and feature models in which their audience would most relate too. Not only will they be showing more plus models but also women who could be a size 2 or 4 but it will be woman who are naturally that size and not forcing it through unhealthy ways.

Karl Lagerfeld-
Karl Lagerfeld, sure knows how to get people to talk. Even though what he said stung, it got people talking. With every bad there can hopefully be some good that comes from it, by such a high profile fashion icon making such a statement about plus woman it encouraged people to speak up and take notice to wear the root of the problem is, the industry itself.

Even he ended up coming around, and has just recently photographed a spread for the upcoming January plus size issue of V Magazine. I am sure working with the fabulous cast of models help change his mind, just a little.

V Magazine announcing a plus model mag
Since Mode Magazine went under, I have been craving for some high fashion editorial shoots featuring plus woman. V Magazine took a very smart risk in featuring an all the popular plus models, and I am sure there sales will benefit. I hope this opens the doors to more magazines using plus and real models in their pages.

Creation of Madison Plus
2009 will always be a special year in my heart, for 11 years I have wanted to start my own business dedicated towards the plus market, and with help of many wonderful people I have been able to get the ball rolling. I am so excited for what is to come in 2010. Find out more about me and my personal history with the plus world.

What was your favorite story in ’09? What are you looking forward to in ’10?

Lizzie Miller, the model who became famous for being the girl on page 194 of the September issue of Glamour, is now the cover model for Experience Life Magazine!  Experience Life is a magazine dedicated to healthy living and self-improvement. Lizzie Miller talks about how she knew she wanted to become a plus size model at the age of 13 and her now famous photo in Glamour launched her to fame.  In regards to the attention the industry has given to plus size models this year, Lizzie wants to keep ”the momentum going, and get more and more girls out there, because people want to see this!”   We know we definitely do!  Lizzie looks so healthy and is so inspiring to so may women out there.  She gives some of the best advice in the below video that happiness and love comes from the inside!