Elle revealed six cover stars for its May swimsuit issue this week. They include Bella Hadid, Jasmine Tookes, Hailey Baldwin, Elsa Hosk, Maria Borges and Candice Huffine.
Huffine’s appearance marked the model’s first American magazine cover, and the news garnered headlines like, “Model Candice Huffine Hopes Her New Elle Cover Shows Women ‘Their Size Is Not an Indication of What Is Possible’” and “Here’s Why Candice Huffine’s Elle Cover Is So Important.”
Huffine herself even told the glossy that she hopes her appearance can help all women “know that they can become anything that they want and they can have anything they want in this life,” adding, “and their size is not an indication of what is possible for them.”
To be honest, though, this isn’t the first time a plus-size model has graced a cover recently. And that’s a great thing.
At this point, featuring a curvy model doesn’t seem all that revolutionary ― and that’s what’s most exciting about this cover.
Huffine’s appearance signals yet another step forward in the move toward a more inclusive industry. And with an increasing number of brands and magazines following suit, we might dare to say that this is all just becoming ... normal. And really, isn’t that the goal? Isn’t true inclusivity achieved when we don’t feel the need to keep talking about it all the time?
If you’re not convinced, consider some of the other magazines that have featured curvy models on their covers in recent memory. There was the Ashley Graham Sports Illustrated cover seen around the world, which paved the way for her to appear on Cosmopolitan, Vogue U.K. and Vogue U.S.
Women’s Running featured plus-size models Erica Schenk, Nadia Aboulhosn and Huffine on its covers over the past two years. Iskra Lawrence starred on Self Magazine’s last-ever print issue. There’s still plenty of room to grow, but it certainly feels refreshingly more common.
Add that to the fact that as Refinery29 pointed out, Huffine is the only cover star whose full body is showing and nowhere does it mention that she is “curvy” or “plus-size.”
This is the best kind of boring we could ever imagine.
