Curvy model Charli Howard is showing off her curves in a red sports bra and leggings in a new campaign for an athletic wear brand that is as environmentally friendly as it is chic.
The 27-year-old, who famously left an unnamed modeling agency in 2015 over ‘unobtainable beauty standards,’ posed alongside models Alisha Bansal and Michaëla Thomsen for Girlfriend Collective’s latest campaign.
The three women all donned matching cherry-hued sports bras and high-waisted leggings made from recycled water bottles for the outdoor shoot.
Strike a pose: Curvy model Charli Howard stars in a new athletic wear campaign for Girlfriend Collective
Sporty spice: The 27-year-old British beauty donned a cherry red sports brand and matching leggings
Co-stars: Charli posed alongside fellow models Alisha Bansal (center) and Michaëla Thomsen (right)
In one shot, Charli is posed on a hiking trail with one hand on her head. Another shows her bending over and stretching her leg.
The British beauty was also photographed walking on the beach with the other models and relaxing on a green lounge chair.
Girlfriend Collective uses sustainable materials to make its sportswear, sourcing post-consumer plastic bottled from Taiwan and knitting them into fabric.
According to the company’s website, it is focused on ‘humane manufacturing,’ but that doesn’t mean the pieces are outrageously priced.
Matching: All three models donned the brand’s sports bra and high-wasted leggings during the shoot
Scenic view: The three models were photographed standing on a bluff overlooking the ocean
Affordable: The brand’s full-length leggings (left) retail for $68 while its 3/4 length leggings (right) go for $58. The sports bras cost $38
Fun in the sun: Charli and Michaëla were also photographed posing on green lounge chairs
Environmentally friendly: Girlfriend Collective uses sustainable materials to make its sportswear, sourcing post-consumer plastic bottled from Taiwan and knitting them into fabric
The brand’s high-rise compression leggings retails for $68 while its sports bras are going for $38 a piece.
Charli has established herself as an advocate for body positivity by regularly celebrating her curves, rolls, cellulite, and even her stretchmarks since she stopped working as a straight-size model in 2015.
Back then, she spent hours in the gym and ate orange juice-soaked cotton wool to maintain her size 2 (UK size 6) figure.
When her former modeling agency told her she would not be booked for a job because she was too big to fit in a pair of designer pants, she took to Facebook to write a scathing post about the company.
Claim to fame: Charli gained attention back in 2015 when she publicly called out an unnamed modelling agency for telling her she was ‘too big’ at a tiny size 2 (UK size 6)
Then and now: She revealed that she had battled eating disorders for years and even passed out on a set because she wasn’t eating in an effort to be thinner
Honest portrayal: In her Instagram posts, she has celebrated her body’s curves, stretch marks and cellulite
‘Here’s a big F*CK YOU to my (now ex) model agency for saying that at 5ft 8in tall and a UK size 6-8, I’m “too big” and “out of shape” to work in the fashion industry,’ she wrote.
Unsurprisingly the Londoner’s 2015 post quickly went viral.
Three years later, the model released her memoir, Misfit, which details the eating disorders and anxiety she suffered for 20 years.
‘I’d eat an apple a day, and I still wasn’t thin enough for them,’ she told The Guardian earlier this year.
Living life: The model has said that she is ‘proof’ that ‘being thin does not make your life better’
Body proud: Charli Howard shared a nude selfie last month after someone had told her she shouldn’t post it
Curvy beauty: The model has more than 121,000 Instagram followers
She claimed that she even fainted on a shoot from eating so little and a photographer simply fanned her with his hands and told her: ‘But you look great.’
The New York City resident now regularly makes a point to show off her natural form on social media while telling her followers that there is nothing wrong with having curves or a bit of extra weight — or a backside covered in cellulite.
Last month, Charli revealed that she showed someone a nude selfie she had taken and was told she shouldn’t post it to Instagram.
The model went ahead and shared the photo, which shows her kneeling on a bed completely nude except for a towel on her head.
‘”Don’t think you should post that” well guess what you’re in for a treat bbz cause I think I look FIYAHHHHH!!!!’ she wrote, using the hashtags ‘#ilovemybody’ and ‘#loveyours.’