Crystal Renn, the self-proclaimed most successful plus-size model in fashion, has penned a biography with the help of Marjorie Ingall entitled Hungry: A Young Model’s Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves, where she chronicles her struggle with weight and how when she finally embraced her plus shape, her modeling career skyrocketed.
Despite what you may think, Crystal Renn, whose beautiful, womanly curves and dark features are enough to make any man melt and women seethe with jealously, was not always the picture of femininity she is today. Renn was discovered as a teen by a talent scout at her etiquette class, and told that she could have a very successful modeling career, but only if she shed some weight from her 5’9″ 165 pound frame. Crystal starved and exercised herself down to 95 pounds in just a few month and at 16 years old, moved to New York to sign with a big agency who was thrilled with her “progress.”
Renn does not name the agency or the agent who praised her weight loss and continued to send her on more castings despite the fact she was getting no work due to her lack of personality and vacant look. Renn herself looks at old pictures and notes how horrible they are. Which makes sense, it’s hard to convey strength and beauty when you are constantly sick and hate yourself inside and out.
Despite losing her hair, suffering from heart palpitations and doing irreparable hip damage from over-exercising, Renn continued to live off of lettuce and Diet Snapple, the only foods she was comfortable consuming. Eventually, despite her manic efforts, her body rebelled and she began to gain weight. A normal part of growing up for most, these extra pounds meant failure and panic for Renn. As her weight crept up to 130 pounds her agency let her know that she would either need to lose weight, or move on.
Renn was not ready to give up her ambitions of editorial modeling work–which emphasizes rail thin bodies, as opposed to catalog or commercial work which is a bit more accepting of larger bodies–but it was obvious that no matter how hard she tried to force it into submission, her body was not meant to be a size zero. She was tired and sick, but still wanted to model. Renn asked about plus-size work, and the agency put her in touch with Ford Models, her agency today.
Renn was the pioneer, and quite frankly, is still alone as a successful editorial plus-size model. She has had successful work with Dolce & Gabana, Vogue, Jean Paul Gaultier, Lane Bryant and, probably her most famous ad, the Breast Cancer Research Association, in which she appeared wrapped in a red, silk sheet, back bared.
Renn’s book is not about eating whatever you want despite what other people think. It’s about eating healthy and intuitively and letting your body settle at its happy weight. She explains that some models are rail thin naturally, and you can tell them by their lack of protruding bones and veins because they are not malnourished, but that designers and agents don’t care either way as long as they sell. Renn, on the other hand, claims that the only reason her modeling career took off was because as she gained weight, she gained self respect and a love for herself, which she can now convey through the lens.
While sometimes it reads like a thank you letter to every single photographer and designer she has ever worked with, Renn’s book is an insightful, sometimes shocking look at the pressure of the modeling industry and the triumph of overcoming it with wild success. No matter your size or aspirations, Renn’s story is an inspiration for anyone who had ever been told that they’d never be able to do it.
Photo via Amazon.
