Throughout her career, she has not only modeled for these brands but has also had several successful fashion collaborations. She is now taking over Miami with her collaboration with Cupshe swimwear. From now until July 31, Cupshe's pop-up store at 1655 Meridian Ave., Miami Beach, features the influencer’s swimwear line. The collection offers 14 swim styles and five coverups, with various styles making sure there is something for everyone to enjoy.
With another win for Majors, she sat down with New Times to discuss how she got to this point in her career.
Her time in modeling
Modeling was not Majors' original dream job. The opportunity was something that came from happenstance while on social media.“I was scouted off Instagram several years ago,” she says. “When my agent first found me, I didn’t sign with them initially because it didn’t seem like a viable career option. At that time, you didn’t see many plus-size models. It was just Ashley Graham, really, but my friend got me into this modeling contest, and I ended up winning it. I was like, 'OK, maybe there is something to this.'"
It would be understandable to be intimidated with any new career, but Majors says she was up for the challenge.
“I wasn’t afraid of modeling. I was naturally comfortable in front of the camera," she explains. "Prior to that, I never enjoyed taking pictures or went out of my way to do it. I just had a photographer friend when I moved to [Los Angeles], and he was the only person I knew. We used to get together and take photos all the time, and that gave me a good amount of practice.”
Majors says modeling as a plus-sized woman goes hand-in-hand with body positivity.
Photo courtesy of Cupshe
Body positivity
With the platform afforded to her as a model, Majors quickly became an active voice in body-positive advocacy. For her, it seemed like the natural thing to do."I feel like at the time when I was modeling, [being body-positive] just came with being a plus-size model," she notes. "I feel like you couldn’t be a plus-size persona and not be an advocate for body positivity. It wouldn’t make any sense not to do that. I definitely embraced it and still do. I feel like it got co-opted by a lot of other people, so it’s not what it is today. I’m still here for it, though."
As a plus-size model, questions about her self-confidence always be on the table. However, as a seasoned model, she likes to handle these questions differently.
“I think now I’d rather not speak on confidence as much; I’d rather just show it," she says. "It’s kind of like a double-edged sword because I know showcasing confidence is important, but I also don’t like always being asked about it because I feel like the plus-size girls are always asked about being confident. I never see anyone ask Bella Hadid, 'How did you get your confidence?' I feel like it’s beating a dead horse at this point, and I don’t want to tell you how confident I am because I just want it to be normalized."
For her Cupshe collaboration, Majors took the time to listen to the feedback her followers gave her.
Photo courtesy of Cupshe
Her Cupshe collaboration
Majors is no stranger to swimwear collaborations, having previously worked with the brand Fashion to Figure. According to the model, she would love to put out a line every year, so when Cupshe contacted her, there was no question about collaborating.“It’s been almost a year in the making of this collection, and I was very familiar with [Cupshe] beforehand," Majors says. "I just thought it would be a great way to reach a wider audience too, because they do worldwide shipping, and plus-size people aren’t just in America; they're everywhere."
Her line with Cupshe ranges from 0-3X. And with this being her third swimwear collaboration, she listened to all the feedback she was getting from her supporters.
“I think for me, it’s always about the support in the bust that was the most important," she notes. "However, in previous swim lines, I had a lot of girls say, 'Not all plus-size women have big chests — some have little chests. We don’t all need the same large cups as a bigger-chested woman.' So that’s why I always like to have a good mix of swimsuits with a lot of support and some that you can adjust to your personal support level."
"It’s so hard to cater to every body type, and I think you’ll never win if you try to do that. There are so many variances in a body, especially the bigger the body is. So, I always try to have a lot of adjustable materials.”
With so many collaborations under her belt, what does Majors hope to bring to the fashion industry?
"I just hope to bring a different perspective," she says. "I hope to bring inspiration to other brands to include extended sizes. I hope one day I can do men’s [fashion] as well. I don’t see brands doing plus-size men, period, but especially plus-size swimwear. So that’s something on my radar for later. I want to bring another reason to be inclusive and to really be inclusive, not just use people who are a size 12. If you can’t find your size in stores, and that’s all you, market — that’s not being inclusive. I think we still need to push the boundaries a whole lot more. I hope I can inspire a lot of brands to do the same."
Cupshe Pop-Up. 1655 Meridian Ave., Miami Beach; cupshe.com. Friday, July 22, through Sunday, July 24, and Friday, July 29, through Sunday, July 31, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
