Getty
Ashley Graham is baring all.
The model posed in the nude for the latest issue of V magazine, where she talks about loving her body.
Graham, 29, says that she first learned about cellulite as a preteen.
“I remember my first signs of cellulite, in middle school. I remember telling my mom ‘Isn’t it disgusting? It’s so ugly.’ She pulled her pants down and said, ‘Look, I have it, too. And I was like, ‘Gasp!’ ” she tells the magazine, on newsstands now.
And Graham’s mom immediately stopped her daughter from getting caught up in any body shame.
“She looked at me, then at it, and just rolled her eyes,” Graham says. “She didn’t tell me that it’s beautiful or ugly. She just made it a nonissue.”
During those preteen years, Graham says she looked up to female singers.
“Growing up, I idolized Beyoncé, J.Lo, and the Spice Girls,” she says. “I was a mix between Ginger and Scary Spice.”
But now she focuses on the woman who taught her how to have a healthy body image — and a model who also made a big splash in Sports Illustrated‘s swimsuit issue.
“Today I have two role models. One of them is my mom,” Graham says. “Just seeing how happy she has been going through [life] and how she’s handled every curveball is like, that’s a women who has integrity and dignity and has been kind and generous to people around her.”
“Business-wise, it’s Kathy Ireland, she’s OG. When she was young and in Sports Illustrated she was like, I’m going to sell some socks and make a business. Now she has a billion-dollar company. Kathy Ireland, if you’re out there, I’m still trying to be your best friend. You’re on my vision board.”
This article originally appeared on PEOPLE
You may also like…
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
