Charli Howard: How a model ‘told she was too big to work in fashion’ got revenge

Model Charli Howard made headlines when she wrote a furious open letter to her agency after its bosses allegedly told her she was “too big” for fashion.

Three years on, Howard has spoken about finding success in New York — and finally feeling confident in her own skin. The 26-year-old wrote her open Facebook post after quitting an unnamed agency in 2015, condemning its “unobtainable beauty standards”.

She has since moved to America and has had successful campaigns with Agent Provocateur and Anne Klein.

In an interview with HELLO! Fashion Monthly, the Peckham-born star said: “In 2017 I started learning to love my body. I’ve got a D-cup boob, I’ve got a size 10 to 12 hip, well 12, probably — and I’ve got a tummy that never seems to go away no matter how many sit-ups I do. It just doesn’t want to go — and what am I meant to do about that?

“I’m curvy, but I know that I’m not a plus-size model and I’ve not given myself that term, that’s what other people label me. It’s more like ‘Oh, you’re not a size zero, so you’re plus size!’ But I’m not, I’m literally what billions of women look like.”

The model and author also spoke about her struggles with disordered e)ating. “I can hardly remember a time when I went out for a meal, if I did, I’d have to leave early to be in bed by 10pm; because if I wasn’t I worried I’d snack,” she said. “I was exhausted, always sleeping and constantly in a bad mood.”

She said this was brought on by working in fashion, adding: “I felt really awful standing there in a bikini having Polaroids taken. The agency said: ‘We’re not going to send your pictures out until you’ve lost weight and toned up.’ ”

Howard said the Facebook post came at a time when she was “over” the fashion industry. She wrote: “Here’s a big F*** 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.

“I refuse to feel ashamed and upset on a daily basis for not meeting your ridiculous, unobtainable beauty standards, whilst you sit at a desk all day, shovelling cakes and biscuits down your throats and slagging me and my friends off about our appearance.” She said her career blossomed once she “started to do my own thing… I’ve seen that with so many other girls as well — when you believe in yourself people are more likely to believe you and when you have your own image and your own vision clients can see exactly what they’re getting, which is not just a mannequin.”