Sitting down with Iskra Lawrence over plates of fish and chips and chocolate fudge cake, we were blown away by her beauty and brains as we talked all things body confidence, body issues and airbrushing.
The plus-sized model is attempting to change the modelling industry and open it up to women of different shapes and sizes, something she is already going some way to achieve with her unretouched campaigns, her social media presence – she has over 630,000 followers on Instagram – and her role as a spokesperson for NEDA (National Eating Disorders Assocation).
She is also the managing editor of Runway Riot, "a style and fashion site for an underrepresented and often under-appreciated majority of women in America who wear larger sizes."
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The 25-year-old, who was scouted when she was 13 after entering anELLE girl search, started to find editorial modelling increasingly difficult when her body started to change and become womanly at the age of 15.
"Every agency would mention my hips. I remember looking at the other models and thinking: 'I do not look like these girls'," she tells us.
The pressure of trying to fit in became too much for Iskra, who reached a point where she realised something had to change.
"I was called fat 200 times on shoots and had serious trouble fitting in the clothes at fashion shows. All these things break you down to a point where you look in the mirror and don't like what you see. I remember googling operations to make my calves slimmer and I ate only ham for a week to try and become skinny."
But she found out about plus-sized modelling and began researching suitable agencies. "I soon realised that I could be a successful model at the size I'm meant to be," she says.
"I then made it my mission to become the best version of myself – to work really hard, work out and be strong and healthy, as well as be confident and nice to people."
She soon landed a campaign with Aerie, a lingerie retailer owned by American Eagle Outfitters, and her stunning, completely unretouched images went viral – she even landed a billboard in Times Square.