Anna Hasapopoulos is a Primary School Teacher and Model. My sister is just casually a model, you know.

She’s modeled for Myer, Get Frocked, Boohoo and other online stores and local campaigns.

Sometimes when I walk with her, I have to just stare people down, as they stare her down. Men especially. Like, do you want to blink, sir? She is tall, statuesque and has a beautiful face. She is considered Plus Sized in the modelling world.  A ‘Curve’ model as they politely put it now. Usually, AU sizes 12/14 and upwards are considered ‘plus sized’…

Anna inspires many with her fearless attitude towards her modelling. She does not sugar coat things, often explaining successes and disappointments through her social media. I’ve been there when she tells the photographer to not edit the cellulite out of her bathing suit photos. She is also very open about her skin concerns and her natural health journey through her blog. Basically, she isn’t interested in seeming perfect and I know getting to be this confident has been a really courageous journey for someone like Anna- who used to be obsessed with physical perfection.

I sat down with Anna and we talked formally about her journey from eating disorders, weight gain, photographers and what it really is like for a Curve Model.

First up, how did a girl from Midland, Perth; get to work for Myer?

“I was fortunate enough to have a best friend in the industry who would always tell me that I needed to kill it in the plus sized world. He begged me. I didn’t want to do it at first. He asked me to walk a runway at his college for fashion students because it was the first time that they decided to have a curvy line, In 2015. I was backstage getting ready and Chris Fox who is from Vivien’s- a highly renowned modelling agency- came up to me and took photos of me and said “I want you to be a part of the new curve section in our agency!” The curve section was upcoming and hadn’t happened yet. That was it! I got signed.”

Those around Anna always thought about her being a model because she was so good looking. However, to be honest, our mum and I were worried because she used to be quite obsessive with her physical appearance. I watched her become skin and bones as a teenager when all she was eating was a watermelon cup. We didn’t think she could handle the pressure of modelling. I would never have thought that ten years down the track, she’d be a healthy body image pioneer and one of the first ‘plus sized’ troops in the modelling world.

I asked her if she ever imagined herself as a professional model.

“God no. I feel like I would never have walked myself into an agency but I used to daydream and practice walking runway in heels, to music, when no one was home. I never thought that I would be a plus sized model! I was trying so hard to be skinny but my body just naturally wasn’t small enough.”

What is it like being a Plus Sized Model as opposed to being a “standard” model?

“It was very quiet when I first started and Perth has not got an industry for Plus Sized models. It hasn’t quite caught onto the trend. My first actual paid job was Myer in Melbourne and I did that with another curvy girl. The team was great and I was like, ‘Oh this is easy!’ I thought how lucky I was that I hadn’t come across ‘horror stories.’

Then I did shopping centre runways which was the first time I had to walk in a group as the token bigger girl. I was next to tiny girls and that would have been the first moment I felt a bit self-conscious. Like, questioning what I was doing there. I felt a bit silly to even consider myself a model, I guess.

 Then there was the campaign that I did for a well-known online clothing store. I got there and I was sitting in the trailer for a long time and the makeup artists were there. It wasn’t until the coordinator came in and asked the make-up artists why they hadn’t started on me. They said they didn’t realise that I was the model. That made me want to get the next plane home. You already have to rock up with no make-up on and I was already feeling bad about myself. Then the clothes…trying on all these outfits like these denim shorts that wouldn’t go up my legs and I was surrounded by all these men and women and they refused to let it go! So they started cutting the back of the shorts open. So I had to walk out in Bondi in front of everyone with cut up shorts, with my underwear hanging out the back- just for a shot. It was so unflattering and embarrassing. Then my partner model arrived and she was a lovely standard, smaller blonde girl. The dynamic of the team changed. I didn’t have as much time in front of the camera as she did, because the photographer just found it easier to photograph her. I was really aware of that. I felt like the ugly one. That was my first bad experience. Then I did another show with the same sort of treatment from the photographers. I think they just think that bigger girls don’t look good on camera.”

I don’t know about you, but I definitely know the feeling of being ignored or left out. Or, not being given the same chance or attention as someone else because they don’t find you attractive. I can’t imagine having tens of people and high quality cameras shooting you whilst you feel like that. This industry isn’t for everyone and I have such respect for Anna and anyone else who can push through situations like this.

“Getting the job or not getting the job gives me the same emotions as having a crush and having heart break. It feels very personal. The old me would for sure leave in these situations and quit. But recently on my Instagram, I follow girls in the curve industry and I always think of their videos and comments of how they get through it. Then I sort of don’t care after that which is cool. Hopefully other girls are inspired by that too.”

I love seeing girls like Anna making their way into the spot light. I tend to follow people now that I can relate more with and slowly, my idea of what is ‘normal’ for me is forming into a more realistic picture. I think we should celebrate girls like Anna becoming more common in our news feeds and catalogs as the world is opening their minds to the fact that there is not just one way to be ‘beautiful.’ That goes for men and women. 2017 is the year for equality, after all. 😉

(Part 2 of Anna’s story will be out next week, where she discusses her eating disorder, more about the behind the scenes of the modelling world and much more.)

Lots of love,

Magda xx