By Jenni Sellan
@jennisellan

SELF DESCRIBED “encourager of being yourself’, Candice Huffine is joining fashion’s history makers as she kicks some seriously out-dated fashion rules to the curb to carve out some impressive new curves for the industry.

The result of her tenacious determination is a career which is well and truly on an upward trajectory…. because you know, Vogue, Elle, Grazia, (Not to mention being the first plus size model to be photographed and featured in the exclusive Pirelli Calendar, sharing space with modeling’s elite including Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Kate Moss).
This is a woman who has stood in the face of impossibility and laughed.

Representation for ‘plus size’ models may have been on the down for FW18 but certainly not out. Influential designers including Christian Siriano and Sophie Theallet continued to impress with their inclusive runway castings and Candice Huffine was standing ‘front and centre’; her presence demonstrating that the issue of diversity and inclusivity is here to stay with the conversation far from over.

Candice’s years of investment into the fight of staying true to herself is paying off with its effects positively impacting our personal experience of what fashion can be.

In her interview with Elle USA, “I had always imagined and committed myself to working tirelessly for the day when my size wouldn’t dictate my possibility” and when you can tick off accomplishments as a plus size model which include walking for Prabal Gurung, you know your foot is well and truly in the door that had been resistant for so long and that the territory of fashion’s landscape is expanding.

Like all of our model crushes, Candice is so much more than a pretty face and a smok’n bod.

Star of body positive Lane Bryant Campaigns #ImNoAngel and #Plusis Equal and founder of Project Start @PSYouGotThis and Creator of Day/Won, Candice’s belief that the most important relationship we have is the one we have with ourselves runs through the core of every project she puts her hand to.
Her role in the fashion industry is a significant one that extends far beyond the reach of the runway and editorial features as she zeros in on empowerment, daring to dream and breaking down barriers.

What greater message is there to share on the back of International Women’s Day for twenty 18?

“Our work should equip the next generation of women to outdo us in every field, this is the legacy we’ll leave behind” (Rupi Kaur) and because one good quote just wasn’t enough….

Here’s to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them! (to be just like Candice!