At 16, most girls are just trying to get through school – with big hopes of what they might do once they leave home.
But despite her tender age, Natalie Nootenboom is already taking the fashion world by storm as a plus-size model.
The stunning teenager, who was bullied for her weight growing up, has recently signed with New York modelling agency Muse and has starred in a number of fashion campaigns.
Natalie – who also happens to be the niece of DJ Steve Aoki – says she is ‘taller, bigger and more awkward’ than what Asian girls are typically expected to be, and now hopes to use her platform to overturn these stereotypes.
The size 16 (US size 12) model, who has a Japanese mother and an American father, explained how Asian girls are stereotypically considered to be ‘petite’ and ‘skinny’.
Natalie said she was bullied at school for her size, with one girl even claiming that she’d stretched her clothes after borrowing them.
She told Revelist, Natalie said: ‘The norm for Asian girls is to be, you know, petite, cute, and skinny. But growing up, I kind of was taller, bigger, more awkward.
‘I was the opposite of what people expected me to be, and so I really want to use my platform to say, you know what? We’re all different. We can’t build a mould and expect people to all fit that mould.’
Natalie Nootenboom, 16, hopes to overturn Asian beauty stereotypes as a plus-size model
The teenager, who has a Japanese mother and an American father, has recently signed with the New York model agency Muse
Natalie explained how she often feels like she’s ‘stuck in the middle’ – bigger than most catwalk models, but slimmer than traditional plus-size models.
However, she says that labels shouldn’t matter – and that we should embrace women of all sizes.
She explained: ‘[W]e’re all diverse. We all have different sizes, and we can celebrate them all.’
Natalie, whose sister Yumi was also a plus-size model, has already gained a large fan base online, with more than 5,000 followers on Instagram.
As well as her ambitions in the fashion industry, she also dreams of being a novelist and a musician.
The size 12 model said growing up she was ‘bigger’ than what Asian girls are expected to be
Natalie, who also happens to be the niece of DJ Steve Aoki (pictured together), also dreams of being a novelist and a musician