Former model, agent and soon to-be-published author, Chelsea Bonner, has always been a champion of the body positivity movement.
While she might have over 20 years in the business, Ms Bonner began her career at a time when plus-size models were the exception rather than the norm.
The journey toward greater inclusivity is one Ms Bonner has poured her heart and soul into, and despite hers, and others’ struggle, is one she believes has turned a corner.
Chelsea Bonner (pictured) begun her modelling career when plus-size models were scarcely seen
Ms Bonner believes the body positivity movement has turned a corner with more and more people using their voices ‘as truthfully and as honestly as they can’
Speaking to FEMAIL, Ms Bonner, who heads up her own modelling agency which was one of the first to cater to plus size women in Australia, revealed she’s always felt passionate about championing the cause for greater diversity.
‘I feel like after so many years of pushing the rock up the hill, it’s on the other side and it’s starting to roll down,’ she said of the body positive movement.
‘People are now using their voices as truthfully and honestly as they can, and that’s really important.’
The former model recalled her aspiration to become a model at 14 was met with some derision because though she was tall she had ‘boobs and a booty’
Ms Bonner, who was born to top Australian model Nola Clark and well-known actor Tony Bonner, was always destined for a career in front of the camera.
But as she revealed to Mia Freedman during her No Filter podcast, though she had aspirations of modelling as a 14-year-old teenager, she was a tall girl with ‘boobs and a booty.’
On one of her earliest interactions with a modelling agency, Ms Bonner recalled was being told to come back ‘when your shape settles down’.
‘I thought that’s a nice way of saying you’re fat,’ she said.
Internationally acclaimed model Robyn Lawley (pictured) has been on the books of Ms Bonner’s modelling agency since her career began
The comment, though scathing, didn’t stop Ms Bonner from later finding her place in the modelling world, a niche she carved out for herself in her twenties when she started working as a junior booking agent.
‘While I was working for this agent, I noticed there were only a couple of plus-sized clothing labels but they were only using mid-thirties brunettes – there was nobody relatable,’ she said.
She struck a deal with her boss where she got some professional photos taken and was added to the agency’s books as a plus-sized model.
The body positivity movement now means women of all shapes and sizes can feature as positive role models for all women
Ms Bonner shared that she took time off work to go to castings and shoots, before landing her first big job doing posters and magazine coverage for My Size in Melbourne.
Driven by a burning desire to make a difference in her industry, and to offer women a safe space to model on their own terms, this meant she would later branch out on her own.
In 2002, Bella Models for women sized 10 to 18, was launched, an agency focused on health and changing the perception of beauty.
Brisbane-born New York-based model Bree Warren is also among those on Ms Bonner’s books
The impetus to start her own business, she explained, was driven in part by seeing girls ‘just destroy themselves mentally and physically to fit into sample sizes’.
Ms Bonner also touched on how seeing her sister, Skye – who was also a model – suffering from an eating disorder pushed her towards starting her agency.
‘My sister was a model at the time, and we hung out with a big group of models.
‘They would eat lettuce leaves spread with a little bit of Vegemite for flavour all day. They would crush up all the cold and flu tablets and snort them, and drink cans of Coke all day.’
The impetus to start her modeling agency, Ms Bonner said was in response to seeing how other models were affected by impossibly high standards of body perfection
Though Ms Bonner admitted that growing Bella Models at a time when body positivity was virtually unheard of, she said she felt determined to see it succeed, at any cost.
While it took seven years for the business to become a success, Ms Bonner shared that there moments that were ‘really rough’.
‘I just couldn’t stop. It was like a compulsion. I had to keep going somehow,’ she said on the podcast.
Model Lucy Bennett, who is also represented by the agency, juggles a career both in Australia and Europe
Now, Bella Management features some of Australia’s biggest model names on its books, including internationally recognised swimwear model Robyn Lawley who has just signed to front a new campaign for Bras N Things.
Though Ms Bonner said her critics often feel justified in their accusations she’s promoting obesity, the former model maintains weight it not a predictor of health, and those who are too thin are just as prone to weight-related issues as those who are too big.
Ms Bonner (pictured) will publish a ‘memoir / manifesto on her life later this year
With ten years in the business, Bella Models is a broader church, and features models on its books ranging in size 6 upwards.
‘We allow the body to be what it is naturally supposed to be, so the models do whatever it is they want to do,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘They do sports, or other activities and eat well. If they stay a size 10, they are marketed as a size 10, if their size changes, we market them as that.
‘The pressure is off the models in maintaining their size.
It’s more important we have a safe space for working professionals,’ she concluded.