Ashley Graham for Rag & Bone Has Me Very Confused
Well, here's some news that should be seriously great but is actually a little confusing.
Ashley Graham, a model/queen known for her body-positive activism (her Instagram hashtag is #BeautyBeyondSize!), has teamed up with NYC clothing company Rag & Bone for a DIY campaign* called Ashley by Ashley. The pictures are super cute, and the outfits are sexy and I want them! (But I can't have them! More on that in a minute!)
This news got plenty of Ashley's fans excited - Rag & Bone traditionally only sells straight sizes - so they were thrilled that their iconic fave was presumably repping a roll out of more inclusive sizes.
Except here's the thing - everything Ashley's wearing appears to only be available in straight sizes. The jeans go up to a 32, which is the equivalent of a 13/14. However, some commenters say Rag & Bone jeans fit small, leading folks to ask if the company made larger jeans specifically for Ashley to wear in the ads. Which... is admittedly kinda strange!
In a recent interview with British Vogue about the Rag & Bone collab, Ashley touched on her desire for clothing to be more inclusive.
“The demand is there, especially for denim … there are many curvy women who are willing to spend money on quality, designer clothing, but often times they are not even given the opportunity because the sizes just don't exist. I think some high-end brands might think they are devaluing their brand if they extend their sizes - maybe they think they will become less exclusive - which is just ridiculous.”
STRONG AGREE! But then, when I dug around the Rag & Bone site for a good 30 minutes, I couldn't find a size above 32.
So ... what's the deal?
If this is a sign that Rag & Bone is becoming more inclusive, that's thrilling! And if so, here's hoping they add the actual sizes to the website (and in stores! Bigger girls love to shop in stores, too!) soon.
But if not, I have some questions, first and foremost being: Why use an iconic body-positive model (known for modeling larger-sized clothing) to sell your stuff? One of the (many) reasons Ashley is so popular is that she uses her powerful voice and body to promote inclusive brands that cater to a wider range of sizes (see again: her #BeautyBeyondSize hashtag), and that doesn't seem to be the case with Rag & Bone. That said, I trust that Ashley knows exactly what she's doing, and fingers crossed that my chunky ass will be able to buy all those cute Rag & Bone clothes soon. Until then, Premme, here I come!
Cosmopolitan.com has reached out to Rag & Bone and Ashley Graham's reps for comment and will update this post if they respond.
*I've read the description of what DIY is like five times, but I'm still confused. Anyone? It appears to maybe just be a collection of a celebrity's favorite Rag & Bone pieces, but?! I mean, they made a pretty video but it explains NADA:
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