ON FILMING THE ASHLEY GRAHAM PROJECT...
"I wanted to show people a peek into my life. As a model, yes, I'm going to fashion shoots. But, my brand is growing and my interests are going beyond the fashion industry," Ashley shared with E! News. "I've wanted to have my own show for quite some time."
ON THE HATERS...
She continued, "The haters have been there for so long, and all I can do is laugh. Now, if they're hating on my friends or my fans, I will go off. I will go off. But, you know, if they're just calling me fat or a fat pig (one guy told me, 'Stop making fat look cool. You're going to kill somebody.'), at this point, I've got really thick skin. I also want to show girls how to brush it off when it happens to them. Sometimes I do write back and tell them that their comments are ugly and distasteful, but I always do it in a respectful way."
ON WEARING THE RIGHT SHAPEWEAR...
"I have a big white couch that carries all of my bras and all of my shapewear. I've got about four different Spanx and four different bras that I go through. I've got one with a deep-V, one that's strapless. Really, the trick that I have is to have multiples of different materials, lengths and heights on the tummy, because you never really know what you're outfit is going to be."
ON DESIGNING SWIMWEAR AND LINGERIE...
"I have to make sure that it's wearable and comfortable, which is something I also admire about my lingerie line. It's comfortable and sexy," she told us. "I am the customer. If I'm not going to wear it, then it doesn't need to be made. If it's not comfortable, then I'm not going to wear it, which means the girl buying it isn't going to wear it. I think that's wear I have a one-up."
ON BEING A BODY ACTIVIST...
"I didn't really start until later in my career and it stuck. It stuck and now I see so many body activists out there really fighting the fight. This is not a trend. This is something that boys and girls really need to see," the model told us. "When I was growing up, I only had my mother to look up to as far as a body that looked similar to mine. I was told a body like J. Lo or Beyoncé was similar to mine, but they don't have cellulite. They don't have back fat. Now, this generation can see someone with a body like theirs and feel comfortable in their skin."
ON IDENTIFYING AS "PLUS-SIZED"...
"The number one question that people ask me is, ‘Where do you get your confidence?' and ‘How do you feel about the word plus-sized?' It's an archaic term." At this point, you can hear the frustration in the model's voice, which would make just about anyone empathetic. But, she continues, "I think that when you label women as anything, you're segregating them. It's divisive, and it's all because of a number inside your pants. I'm not really down with it. But, I do know women that love the word ‘plus-sized' and identify with the word. I'm just fighting a fight for the women who don't want to be placed apart from other women because of the size of their hips."