In a world where fat shaming is a socially accepted practice and we like our models to be ultra thin, trying to make it as a plus size model is no simple feat. Now imagine you’d also be a black woman, which is basically the discrimination trifecta. Paloma Elsesser fought those odds in one of the more superficial lines of work on the planet, and won.
Paloma was born in London and raised in Los Angeles. She lived in a predominantly black neighbourhoor, feeling a lot like outsiders in the very hip and rich city of LA. Once she started college, she moved to New York. She gained a degree in psychology and literature and actually never considered becoming a model.
One day some friends told her she had a unique look, so she decided to go to different modelling agencies. Since she was unschooled in all things fashion, none of them felt the need to give her a fair shot and they all rejected her.
