A Plus Dimension Mannequin Highlight on Energy, Presence, and Objective

A Plus Dimension Mannequin Highlight on Presence, Energy, and Objective

Monique Cartwright is strictly the sort of plus dimension mannequin this collection was created for and the proper method to start it.

Earlier than we dive into her story, right here’s why this highlight collection exists within the first place.

Why We Launched the TCF Plus Dimension Mannequin Highlight Collection

At The Curvy Fashionista, we obtain a gradual stream of emails and DMs asking the identical questions: How do I turn out to be a plus dimension mannequin? Are you hiring fashions? The place do I begin? Who ought to I be following?

And whereas we’ve spent years masking plus dimension vogue, tradition, and neighborhood, the fact is that this: modeling is its personal ecosystem. It’s formed by lived expertise, professionalism, entry, boundaries, confidence, and trade information that goes far past what we will responsibly reply in a single article or guidelines.

So as an alternative of pretending to have all of the solutions, we determined to do what we do greatest: shine the sunshine.

The TCF Plus Dimension Mannequin Highlight Collection was created to characteristic plus dimension fashions like Monique Cartwright– fashions we all know, love, and deeply respect. These are people who’ve carved out their very own lanes, claimed visibility on their very own phrases, and are actively shaping what the way forward for vogue appears like. Some are agency-signed. Some are unbiased. All of them are ones to observe and ones you must know.

This collection isn’t about casting calls or a single “proper” path. It’s about illustration, transparency, and celebration. It’s about studying immediately from fashions doing the work and creating area for fuller, extra sincere conversations about what modeling actually appears like at the moment.

Which brings us proper again to Monique.

To Kick Off the Collection: Monique Cartwright

To open our Plus Dimension Mannequin Highlight Collection, we’re beginning with Monique Cartwright, an Atlanta-based plus dimension mannequin whose work is rooted in reality, professionalism, and presence.

Monique doesn’t step in entrance of the digicam hoping to be chosen. She reveals up understanding she belongs. Her strategy to modeling displays precisely what this collection is about: carving your individual lane, honoring your lived expertise, and exhibiting up totally in an trade that hasn’t at all times made room.

And from the second she begins telling her story, it’s clear…this isn’t about chasing visibility. It’s about claiming it.

Recognizing Herself within the Lens

There are fashions who present as much as be seen after which there are fashions who present up understanding they belong. Monique Cartwright strikes by vogue with the latter vitality. Grounded, intentional, and unapologetic, the Atlanta-based plus dimension mannequin doesn’t simply step in entrance of the digicam. She meets it.

For Monique, modeling was by no means about discovering that the digicam beloved her again. It was about recognizing herself in it.

“My origin story isn’t about discovering the digicam, it’s about recognizing myself in it,” she shared. “The digicam responds to fact, and mine is rooted in lived expertise.”

That lived expertise is current in each picture she creates. Her work displays resilience, presence, and function, formed by years of advocating for illustration, collaborating with creatives who see plus dimension magnificence as highly effective, and mentoring others to step boldly into their very own visibility. Over time, that vitality didn’t simply translate by the lens. It echoed again.

Based mostly in Atlanta, Georgia, Monique stands 5’7”, wears a dimension 18, and identifies as proudly plus. She is just not at present company represented, however her work speaks clearly for itself; rooted in professionalism, readability, and confidence that isn’t performative, however practiced.

Visibility With out Permission

When requested what recommendation she would give to her youthful self stepping in entrance of the digicam for the primary time, Monique Cartwright didn’t hesitate. Her reply was each a reminder and a directive.

“Don’t look ahead to permission to take up area,” she mentioned. “You don’t have to shrink, pose smaller, or apologize on your physique to be worthy of the lens.”

She is intentional about dismantling the concept plus dimension fashions should soften themselves to be accepted. For Monique Cartwright, the digicam isn’t in search of perfection, it’s responding to presence.

“Belief that your confidence, your story, and your lived expertise are sufficient,” she defined. “Be taught your angles, sure, however extra importantly, be taught your energy.”

That energy, she believes, comes from honoring who you might be whereas exhibiting up ready, skilled, and open. However by no means at the price of self-erasure.

“By no means compromise who you might be to be ‘bookable.’ The proper creatives will see you and the flawed rooms aren’t meant to carry you anyway.”

For Monique, illustration doesn’t begin on set. It begins internally; with boundaries, self-worth, and the assumption that visibility is just not one thing to earn. It’s one thing to say.

Studying the Language of the Digicam

Monique credit a lot of her understanding of presence and intention to her longtime vogue icon and mannequin muse, Tyra Banks.

“Tyra didn’t simply mannequin, she commanded the digicam,” Monique mentioned. “She taught a whole technology that modeling is about presence, storytelling, and understanding your energy in entrance of the lens.”

Watching Tyra wasn’t nearly finding out poses. It was about studying that confidence is an energetic selection… one which shapes how the digicam responds.

“What impressed me most was how fearless she was in taking over area, creating alternatives, and redefining what it meant to be a mannequin on her personal phrases,” Monique shared. “That vitality interprets immediately into how I present up at the moment; unapologetic, expressive, and totally conscious that my physique, my stroll, and my story belong in vogue areas.”

Modeling, in Monique’s world, isn’t about becoming into the trade. It’s about shaping it.

Revolt First, Illustration At all times

When requested what being a plus dimension mannequin means to her: rebel, illustration, or runway takeover… Monique Cartwright answered with out separating the three.

“Being a plus dimension mannequin is all three, however it begins with rebel,” she mentioned.

For Monique, rebel is the refusal to shrink, keep silent, or settle for outdated narratives about magnificence. Each time she steps in entrance of the digicam, she’s difficult the concept visibility is reserved for a slim commonplace.

“That rebel creates area for actual representation- not tokenism, however visibility rooted in confidence, fashion, and presence.”

And as soon as illustration is established, one thing shifts.

“Then it turns into a takeover. A plus dimension runway takeover isn’t about asking for inclusion, it’s about possession. It’s about exhibiting up with authority, understanding we belong right here and at all times have.”

Her work is about greater than vogue. It’s about motion, energy, and making certain the subsequent technology doesn’t must struggle as laborious to be seen.

Dream Walks and Manifested Moments

Monique’s imaginative and prescient board consists of two manufacturers that signify the complete spectrum of her modeling identification: Christian Siriano and Eloquii.

For Siriano, she imagines excessive drama and sculptural intention.

“I see myself in a robe with sturdy shoulders, a cinched waist, and fluid motion: one thing daring and unapologetic,” she mentioned. “A glance that celebrates curves as structure, not one thing to be hidden.”

For Eloquii, the imaginative and prescient shifts towards energy that’s wearable.

“I envision one thing tailor-made, attractive, and trendy… a pointy go well with or a press release gown that reveals plus-size vogue could be trend-setting, elevated, and accessible.”

Strolling for each, she says, wouldn’t simply be a profession milestone; it might be a press release. One which proves plus dimension vogue is just not a distinct segment. It’s a drive.

Daring, Intentional, Unapologetic, In Model and in Life

When requested to explain her private fashion in three phrases, Monique didn’t hesitate: daring, intentional, unapologetic.

That philosophy extends to the boldest factor she’s ever worn, her first bikini.

“For a very long time, I didn’t imagine a bikini was ‘for’ somebody who appeared like me,” she admitted. “Carrying it felt like crossing an invisible line I had been taught to not step over.”

Standing totally seen, with nothing to cover behind, was each susceptible and releasing.

“What stunned me most was how assured I felt. Not performative confidence… actual, grounded confidence. I wasn’t carrying it to show something. I wore it as a result of I wished to.”

That second shifted her relationship together with her physique and carried ahead into each shoot and runway since.

“Boldness isn’t at all times loud,” she mirrored. “Typically it’s merely permitting your self to be seen and loving the way it feels.”

What the Business Nonetheless Must Get Proper

For Monique, one subject stays pressing: physique variety.

“Plus dimension isn’t one physique sort,” she mentioned plainly. “It’s massive bellies and small bellies, massive boobs and small boobs, completely different heights, shapes, and proportions.”

Too usually, illustration nonetheless facilities one “acceptable” model of plus dimension, leaving too many individuals unseen.

“Getting it proper means designing, casting, and styling for actual our bodies; not simply scaling up straight-size patterns. When individuals see the complete spectrum of plus-size our bodies, they don’t simply see garments. They see themselves.”

And that, she believes, is when vogue turns into transformative.

Why Plus Dimension Mannequin Spotlights Matter

Greater than 67% of ladies within the U.S. put on a dimension 14 or above, but plus dimension our bodies stay underrepresented throughout vogue media. That hole shapes confidence, buying conduct, and cultural notion; particularly for youthful generations nonetheless forming their sense of self.

Monique understands why visibility issues… not as a pattern, however as a correction.

“Illustration isn’t about asking for inclusion,” she shared earlier. “It’s about possession.”

That perception is why spotlights like this exist at The Curvy Fashionista, alongside our Curvy CEO Spotlights, plus dimension influencer and creator options, and plus dimension e book writer spotlights. Model, management, creativity, and storytelling present up in lots of kinds, and all of them deserve the sunshine.