Tess Holliday

Tess Holliday (born Ryann Maegen Hoven) is a model, author and body-positivity advocate known for challenging traditional beauty standards and becoming one of the most recognizable plus-size models in the fashion industry. Holliday endured a turbulent childhood and was bullied over her appearance from a young age. Her family moved frequently and, when she was 9, her mother was shot by her then-fiancé and rendered disabled. Holliday left school at 16 and did not attend college. She later moved to Seattle, where she worked in the fashion industry as a makeup artist and hair stylist.

Holliday began pursuing modeling professionally after moving to Los Angeles in 2010. She gained attention after posting photos of herself online and was chosen as the face of A&E’s Heavy. In 2013, Vogue Italia named her one of the world’s top plus-size models. She later became the first model above a U.S. size 20 to sign with Milk Model Management’s Curve division. She also appeared in campaigns for Benefit Cosmetics and on covers including People, Nylon and Cosmopolitan UK.

Holliday launched the #EffYourBeautyStandards movement in 2013 and published her memoir, The Not So Subtle Art of Being a Fat Girl, in 2017. She has also appeared on The Bold Type and in Orville Peck‘s “Queen of the Rodeo” music video.

Holliday married photographer Nick Holliday in 2015. They split in 2019. She has two sons, Rylee (born in 2005) from a previous relationship and Bowie Juniper Holliday (born in 2016) with Nick.