Tess Holliday | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ryann Maegen Hoven July 5, 1985 |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Tess Munster |
| Citizenship | American |
| Occupation(s) | Plus-size model, make-up artist, blogger |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Partner(s) | Nick Holliday (engaged; 2014) |
| Children | 1 |
| Modeling information | |
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) |
| Hair color | Brown |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Agency | Mavrick Artists Agency, Milk Model Management |
| Website | www |
Ryann Maegen Hoven[1][2] (born July 5, 1985), known professionally as Tess Holliday and formerly known as Tess Munster, is an American plus-size model based in Los Angeles. She self-describes as a "body positive activist" and started her #effyourbeautystandards movement on Instagram in 2013. In the same year, she was named by Vogue Italia as one of the top six plus-size models in the world. In 2015, Milk Model Management announced that they had signed Hoven, making her the largest plus-size model to be signed to a mainstream modeling agency.
Hoven was born and raised in Laurel, Mississippi, United States.[3] Her mother left her father when Hoven was a young child and her family moved at least 40 times before she turned 10.[4]
In June 1995, her mother was shot twice in the head by her fiance, who was charged with attempted murder.[4] At the age of 10,[5] Hoven and her brother moved back to their grandparents' house in Mississippi while their mother recovered.[4]
Hoven attended Los Angeles High School, where she alleged that she was bullied for her weight and pale skin,[6] having a disabled mother[4] and because they lived in a trailer behind her grandparent's house[5] back garden.[4] She left school at the age of 17 after earning her GED.[6]
Hoven has also alleged verbal abuse about her size by her father, but has said that she was supported and encouraged by her mother to become a model.[6] Hoven has now severed contact with her father and her mother remains disabled and paralyzed after being shot by her fiance.[4][7]
At the age of 15,[8] whilst she was a US size 16 (UK 18/20) and 5 foot 4 inches tall,[9] Hoven auditioned at a casting call for plus models in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was told she would be lucky to do print advertisements or catalogue work because she was too short and big.[3][10]
Subsequently, Hoven relocated to Seattle where she stayed for two years and worked as a make-up artist, head make-up artist, hair stylist and creative director at fashion shows. She then moved back to Mississippi and gave birth to her son (at the age of 20). Then following Hurricane Katrina, she returned to Seattle[10] (where she had some pictures taken for her then boyfriend and posted them on Model Mayhem[11] in October 2009)[12] then she moved to Los Angeles in 2010 – all within four years.[10] In August 2007, Hoven started her modeling career.
Her move to Los Angeles helped her gain confidence.[6][13] In 2011,[3] at the age of 24,[7] while working as a receptionist at a Los Angeles dental office[3] for a $20,000 salary[4] she became a professional model.[7] She responded to 'House of Dreams Model Search' by Torrid and was accepted.[10] At the same time, A&E chose her to be the face of documentary television series Heavy[10] after being discovered online.[6][13] In June 2011,[11] she became the face of the television show and was on an advert that ran nationwide and billboards across the country.[8] Hoven has been featured on "fatshion" blogs, she models accessories and plus size clothing lines, and was contacted to audition for Vh1's The Big Girls Club.[14][15] She has modeled for Domino Dollhouse, SWAK, Jessica Louise Clothing, Evil Pawn Jewelry, Black Cat Bikinis, Empress Lingerie, Vintage Box 1947, Batcakes Couture, Em & Sprout and various other independent designers.[8] She has also shot a campaign for Benefit Cosmetics, worked with David LaChapelle, featured in Vogue Italia[16] and she has appeared in Nylon magazine.[4] In 2012, she had her first naked photo-shoot.[17]
In 2014, Hoven quit her day job at the dental office[4] to pursue her modeling career full-time.[18] In May 2014, a video was uploaded on Vimeo called #everyBODYisflawless, which featured Hoven and fellow plus-size fashion bloggers and models Gabi Gregg and Nadia Aboulhosn lip-synching and dancing to Beyoncé's 2013 song "Flawless".[19][20] In September of that year, she was interviewed by Jacob Soboroff and Meghan McCain on TakePart Live.[21]
In January 2015, London-based modeling agency Milk Model Management announced that they had signed Hoven to their plus-size division, Curves. They declared that Hoven had become the largest plus-size model of her size and height to be signed to a mainstream modeling agency,[3][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] and the first Curve model above a size 20.[32][33][34][35] In May, she had her first agency shoot.[36][37][38]
In March 2014, Hoven became first model over size 18 to model Monif Clarke's clothing line after she was hired as the face of the latest campaign for her swimwear line Sea by Monif C - a line that is specifically designed for women sizes 14 - 24.[39] In the same month, she modeled for Torrid.[40][41][42] She also collaborated with the plus size clothing retailer Yours Clothing for the second time when she was officially announced as the face of their high summer campaign.[43][44] In May 2015, she was featured on the cover of People.[45][46][47][48][49]
In September 2015, Hoven starred in H&M's sustainable fashion campaign alongside singer Iggy Pop, artist Daniel Lismore, sex blogger Karley Sciortino and blogger Pardeep Singh Bahra.[50][51] In the same month, she starred in Addition Elle's fall 2015 capsule collection campaign.[52][53] In the same month, she also confirmed that she is in the process of designing her own clothing line.[54][55][56][57][58]
Hoven also self-describes as a "body positive activist".[18][20] She embraces the word 'fat' and advocates that people should be able to eat as much and whatever they want without suffering from social ostracism.[4] In 2013, she started her #effyourbeautystandards movement on Instagram. The movement shows women that they do not have to be a certain size to love their body (big or small) and that their size should not dictate their fashion choices.[59][60] Hoven employes a team of six social media specialists to help manage her message across the world.[54][61] She has said that the movement has led to women letting her know that they now feel good about how they look and wear what they like.[62] She also talks at public events about body confidence.[63]
In February 2014, Hoven appeared on Channel 4 News.[64] In April 2015, she was interviewed by Meredith Vieira on the The Meredith Vieira Show.[65] In the same month, she appeared on Plus Sized Wars, a Channel 4 documentary about changing beauty standards[66] and explores the fast-growing plus-size fashion industry.[67]
In August 2015, Hoven demanded a boycott of Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr accounts under the name 'Project Harpoon' which photoshopped her image and images of other women including Rebel Wilson and Melissa McCarthy to make them appear slimmer without authorization.[68][69][70][71][72] In September 2015, she criticized Victoria's Secret for their limited amount of plus-size clothing options.[73][74][75] In the same month, she was interviewed by Lorraine Kelly on Lorraine.[76][77]
In 2013, Hoven was named by Vogue Italia as one of the top six plus-size models in the world.[18] In the same year, she was also named one of the world's top plus size models by Refinery29 and The Huffington Post.[78][79]
At the age of 20, Hoven gave birth to her son,[10] Rilee[16] whilst being employed by Walmart at the time. In June 2015, The Guardian reported she no longer had any contact with Rilee's father.[4]
In 2012, Hoven met Australian businessman,[17] photographer and artist[80] Nick Holliday on Tumblr.[17] They talked online for seven months before Holliday traveled to the US to visit,[80] and he later moved from Melbourne to the U.S.[4] On July 5, 2014, they got engaged.[17]
She was born Ryann Hoven but changed her name to Tess Munster (a surname she chose because she liked the television sitcom The Munsters) when she started doing alternative modeling and also used the name Tess Typhoon.[81] In January 2015 adopted and officially started using her fiancé's surname.[3]
Hoven is 5 feet 5 inches (165 cm) tall and US dress size 22.[3][22][23][25][26][27][30][31][33] She claims to weigh 280 pounds[2] with a body mass index of 46.6 and measurements of 52"-49"-59".[82] She is heavily tattooed including, a Miss Piggy tattoo on her right outer forearm, a Mae West tattoo on her right inner forearm, a Marilyn Monroe tattoo on her left bicep, a plus-size mermaid tattoo on her right upper thigh, a Hello Kitty tattoo on her right calf and a Dolly Parton tattoo on her right leg.[18][30][31][83] Hoven trains with a personal trainer four times a week, plus hikes and swims.[84] Hoven has a retrousse nose, pouted lips and wavy auburn hair.[85] Her favorite part of her body are her buttocks: when asked in an October 2010 interview she replied, "...I really love my butt. It's pretty darn good if you ask me!"[59] She first wore a bikini at the age of 21.[86] In September 2015, she posted a nude black-and-white filtered photo on Instagram.[87][88][89]