2015 is turning out to be an exciting year for Robyn Lawley.
Having previously nabbed editorials in Vogue and Cosmopolitan, as well as an ad campaign for Ralph Lauren, the 25-year-old Australian recently made history by being the first plus-size model to be featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. And, of course, everyone took notice.
However, there’s much more to Lawley than her beautiful curves and impressive modeling career. Turns out she is also a successful DJ, food blogger, and founder of her own swimsuit line, which also made an appearance in her Sports Illustrated photo shoot. But her biggest and most important undertaking is right around the corner: becoming a mom.
Though she has been busy prepping for her family addition, Lawley took some time to speak to Fashionista about her business ventures, her feelings toward fellow plus-size model Ashley Graham, and what it was like to be a part of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.
Check out highlights from the Q&A below as well as images from her spread. You can read the full article as Fashionista’s website.
On what it's like to be a part of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue:
"I'm so happy. We shot it so many months ago and as a model, it always sucks, the waiting game. I've had to wait and wait and wait and finally it's been released. I was talking to MJ [Day, senior editor at Sports Illustrated] today and they are all so happy, I'm happy, and I just love the shot so I'm really happy with that. And James [Macari, photographer] was awesome to shoot with. The whole team was so much fun, it's unreal to join this Sports Illustrated family."
On being pregnant during the shoot:
"I was in my first trimester. I didn't really know, I had a feeling because I was very tired and I wasn't feeling very well. It was exhausting for me. MJ was seven months pregnant. You just get turned off food completely and me getting turned off food is such a rarity, so I knew something was up. I kept working, I worked up until I was six months pregnant, modeling-wise, and I'm still working. I've got my swimwear and my cookbook stuff always on the go."
On how she feels about being the first plus-size model in the swimsuit issue:
"I've always thought that 'first' anything, it's a little bit tokenistic. SI has had curvier girls, if you look back when it first launched in the '60s and '70s. Those girls were real, man. They were sexy and I like that, that's what I aspire to as a model. I tried to go down the skinny route in the beginning of my career because that's what was in fashion. When I saw Kate Upton doing so well, I thought, 'Wow, I actually might be shot for this because Heidi Klum [and others], they're still a size six or a size eight and I'm a size 12. But Kate Upton looks a little bit more curvy, so maybe I will have a chance to do SI. And then for it to actually happen just blew my mind."
Her thoughts on fellow plus-size model Ashley Graham:
"I think all the models above a size 10 know each other [laughing]. Ashley is amazing, she's such a sweetheart and she's doing it for Swimsuits For All which stocks my swimsuits, so I'm appreciative they are taking out ads. I think it's awesome."
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