Iskra Lawrence – Changing the Fashion Industry



Her dream has always been to be a model. And she seemed to be heading towards reaching her goals until puberty hit her and her body started to change in an unexpected way. She became curvy. She didn’t see it coming, and neither did the agencies which dropped her off saying that she is “too fat” to be a model. She then went on to try plus size model agencies, but they told her she was “too small”.

Basically she was unfit to be a model, in any industry. But she didn’t give up. Instead, she saw an uncovered niche. Since no one was hiring models her size, clearly no woman her size could relate to any model. So she decided to become a voice for all sizes that don’t seem to find themselves in commercials, the media, brands, anywhere.
She went even further and started a whole new way of promoting models: unretouched. She launched a calendar of unretouched images of models of all sizes posing in lingerie, and from there on, she became well known to everyone.

She became very vocal about her beliefs about self love and embracing our bodies just the way they are. Soon, she gained a huge amount of support from her social media followers. At the moment, she is being followed and praised by 3.2 million followers on Instagram.

Currently, she is one of the main ambassadors of Aerie, a lingerie brand that promotes all body types, doesn’t retouch its pictures and promotes inclusivity and diversity through its campaigns. On the side, she has walked the runway at the New York Fashion Week, she has landed numerous magazines covers and she doesn’t seem to stop anytime soon.

Moreover, Iskra got involved with NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association) and created NEDA Inspires Seal of Approval, an award for brands or campaigns that promote healthy body image in an attempt to eradicate unrealistic body goals.
Her goal is for future generations to not have to deal with eating disorders, body shaming and for young people to be educated about what a healthy body image is and that being healthy is more important than fitting into certain standards.
Recently, Iskra has also given a TedX talk called “Ending The Pursuit of Perfection” where she discusses all these values she keeps fighting for and why they are worth fighting still.
You can view the TedX talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR_hq7OVzHU

Article by: Diana Iusco
Link to website – http://www.destray.com/

Diana Iusco