A size 22 model and Sea by Monif C have joined forces for a new swimwear campaign. The story has gone viral, some people are not happy about Tess Holliday becoming the face of the plus-size brand.
Tess Munster, also known as Tess Holliday, is doing great things at age 29. The woman, who was born Tess Ryann in Mississippi, is currently making history as a size 22 supermodel.
Holliday was picked by Sea by Monif C to be the face of the brand’s new campaign. Although Sea by Monif C is a plus-size business, this is the first time that the company is using a model of that size. The heavily tattooed mother of one is 5’5 tall, weighs 260 pounds and her measurements are 49″-49″-52″.
Monif Clarke, the founder of Monif C, explained in an interview with Yahoo, how she ended up choosing Holliday to represent her new line of swimwear. Clarke shared:
“We’ve always featured size 14 plus models. But, we thought, “How do we make this more compelling for our customer?” The feedback we were getting was, “We love that you show women in size 14 and 18 but what about the 22s and 24s?””
In January 2015, Holliday became the first model of her size to get signed by a mainstream agency, when she joined Milk Model Management that is based in London. The plus-size model was very happy to wear the Sea by Monif C swimsuits. Here is what she had to say about them:
“When I’m buying a swimsuit the thing that is most important to me is how I feel in it, if I feel good. It’s great to buy something that may look cute but I want to buy something that makes me feel sexy and I want to feel confident when I’m going out and I want people to stare so you know I want good support, I want fun prints.”
She also added:
“I love that the swimwear is designed by an actual plus size woman. Not only does [Clarke] know what we need but she also gives us the sexy factor that’s totally lacking in swimwear. She gets that we don’t need to hide our bodies or feel bad for the way we look yet she makes swimwear that helps us embrace our size and look good.
The media quickly embraced Tess Holliday’s accomplishment, but online commentators were less enthused. Some people say that the press is indirectly promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. Those voices believe that obesity is no different than anorexia. On the other side of the conversation, some have said that attacking Holliday over her weight is mean-spirited and is a form of bullying.
According to The Inquisitr, Holliday, the creator of the #effyourbeautystandards movement, is not bothered by the negativity; she is celebrating the fact that her pictures “broke the internet.”
What are your thoughts on the media’s reaction to Tess Holliday’s success?
