Top 30 Hottest Curvy Instagram Models to Follow in 2026

@ashleygraham

Ashley Graham is the most-followed curvy model in the world, and the one who cracked the category open. Her 2016 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover was the first ever given to a plus-size model, and the industry has never fully returned to what it was before.

Since then she has published a book, hosted Oscars red carpets, and built size-inclusive lines with brands including JCPenney. Her reach now puts her closer to mainstream celebrity influencers than to working models.

@iskra

Iskra Lawrence built a career by refusing retouching. Serving as Aerie’s global role model from 2014, she helped force a no-airbrushing standard that the rest of the lingerie industry eventually had to match.

Beyond modelling, the Wolverhampton native is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree, a TEDx speaker, and the founder of skincare brand Saltair. She is also the best known of the curvy blonde models, and one of the most recognisable blonde Instagram models anywhere.

@barbieferreira

Barbie Ferreira became famous twice over. First came the unretouched Aerie campaign that made her a face of the body-positive shift, and then came Kat Hernandez in HBO’s Euphoria, a role that turned her into a genuine star.

The Brazilian-American, raised in Queens by a single mother, has since fronted work for Adidas, Levi’s, and YSL Beauty. Today she ranks among one of the hottest brunette actresses to come out of the modelling world.

@ashalexiss

Ashley Alexiss reached her audience without waiting for an agency to send her out. The Boston-born model built one of the largest curvy swimwear followings on the platform through sheer consistency, posting directly to the people who wanted to see her.

That leverage became a business. She founded Alexiss Swimwear, designing the pieces herself, which puts her in rare company among curvy bikini models who own what they promote.

@tessholliday

Tess Holliday was told she was too short and too big for the job. At five foot three she was signed anyway, becoming the largest model a mainstream agency had taken on at that point.

Rather than accept the industry’s terms, she created the hashtag #effyourbeautystandards in 2013, and it grew into a movement and then a brand. She is now a bestselling author and one of the most outspoken voices on mental health in fashion.

@tabriamajors

Tabria Majors arrived as a Sports Illustrated Swim Search finalist in 2018 and has barely left swimwear since. The Nashville native has walked for Savage X Fenty and fronted Fashion Nova Curve campaigns.

Alongside modelling she co-hosts The Thick podcast, and her editorial standards run noticeably higher than most creator-led grids. She is among the most visible Black female Instagram models in the curve category.

@lateciat

La’Tecia Thomas started posting in 2012 and now holds one of the biggest curve followings to come out of Australia. Represented in the US, UK, and at home, she moves easily between markets.

A trained makeup artist, she brings a beauty specialist’s eye to her content, which sets her apart from the styling-led grids around her. She is the most-followed curve name among Australian Instagram influencers.

@denisemmercedes

Denise Mercedes found her audience through a single idea. Her Style Not Size series, shot beside a straight-size friend in matching outfits, travelled worldwide and reframed how people talk about dressing a body.

The Dominican-American model has since built a feed spanning fashion, beauty, and lifestyle with unusually strong engagement. She is one of the most influential Latina Instagram models working in the curve space.

@gabifresh

Gabi Gregg has been doing this longer than almost anyone here. She started blogging in 2008, and when she posted a photo of herself in a bikini, the reaction was strong enough that InStyle covered it as a cultural moment.

After working at Refinery29 and InStyle, she moved into design, co-founding the plus-size label Premme and creating repeat swimwear collections with Swimsuits For All. Her fatkini campaign remains a reference point in the category.

@nadiaaboulhosn

Nadia Aboulhosn won American Apparel’s XL Model Search in 2011, which led straight to a shoot for Seventeen. Raised in a Lebanese-American household in Orlando, she moved to New York and built her following while working an office job.

Rejection by the Fashion Institute of Technology did not slow her down. Instead she approached retailers directly, designing collections for Addition Elle and Boohoo and turning herself into a designer rather than only a face.

@huntermcgrady

Hunter McGrady began as a straight-size model at fifteen, then switched to curve modelling at nineteen because she could not sustain the size her agency demanded. In 2017 she became the largest model Sports Illustrated had ever photographed.

She went on to cover the magazine’s 60th anniversary Legends issue in 2024. Away from shoots, she hosts the Model Citizen podcast with her sister and designs a size-inclusive line for Sam’s Club.

@chessieking

Chessie King is the closest thing this list has to a pure curvy fitness model, and curvy fitness models remain badly under-represented. The British creator made her name with side-by-side posts showing how lighting, posing, and angles manufacture the bodies people compare themselves against.

Her work now extends well past the gym. She is an author, presenter, and trained doula who founded the parenting platform Welcome to Babyhood, and her approach sits comfortably alongside the best female fitness influencers.

@denisebidot

Denise Bidot calls herself an OG curve model, and the record backs it up. Of Puerto Rican and Kuwaiti heritage, she was among the first models to walk a New York Fashion Week runway without agency representation behind her.

Campaigns for Lane Bryant and Old Navy followed, as did her No Filter movement. She is now signed to CAA and splits her time between London and Amsterdam.

@palomija

Paloma Elsesser is the most decorated curvy model of her generation. In 2023 she became the first plus-size model to win Model of the Year at the Fashion Awards, and she walked the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show the following year.

Discovered on Instagram by makeup artist Pat McGrath, she has covered both American and British Vogue since. As a result she now sets the benchmark for fashion Instagram models at the luxury end.

@sarina_nowak

Sarina Nowak came up through Germany’s Next Topmodel, then left the straight-size world behind and rebuilt her career as a curve model. The move worked, and she is now signed to Wilhelmina in Los Angeles and London.

Based in LA but still closely followed at home, she has become one of the most successful German exports in the category. Her feed leans hard into confidence and colour.

@preciousleexoxo

Precious Lee was the first African American curve model booked by the long-established European houses. She has walked Versace, Fendi, and Moschino, and TIME named her to its 100 Next list.

The Atlanta native also writes and acts, which puts her among the curve models moving fluidly between runway and screen. Her editorial work ranks with the strongest here.

@felicityhayward

Felicity Hayward has been fighting for size inclusivity since 2011, making her one of the longest-serving curve models in Britain. Scouted in a London pub, she went on to walk for Vivienne Westwood.

Her influence now runs through writing as much as modelling. She contributes to Glamour UK, founded the campaign platform Including The Curve, and published a book on the industry, while her TEDx talk on representation is widely cited.

@jadasezer

Jada Sezer holds a master’s degree in psychology, which shapes how she talks about bodies and self-image. The British model has walked London Fashion Week and campaigned hard on representation.

In 2019 she ran the London Marathon in her underwear alongside Bryony Gordon to challenge assumptions about what athletic bodies look like. She has since founded the platforms CEO Mum and Mother App.

@robynlawley

Robyn Lawley made history twice. In 2011 she became the first curve model on the cover of Vogue Italia, and in 2015 she was the first plus-size model featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.

The New South Wales native has never been quiet about the industry either, leading a boycott that pushed Victoria’s Secret into changing its fashion show. Outside fashion, she runs a vegan recipe platform.

@ali_tate_cutler

Ali Tate Cutler broke a barrier most people assumed was permanent. In 2019 she became the first plus-size model to appear in a Victoria’s Secret campaign, through the brand’s partnership with Bluebella.

She has since moved much of her focus toward business, teaching other creators how to monetise an audience. Even so, that lingerie milestone reshaped what the industry considered castable.

@calliethorpe

Callie Thorpe took a different route into influence. The British creator built her audience writing honestly about travelling, eating, and existing in the world in a fat body, at a time when almost nobody covered that.

Her work now appears in Conde Nast Traveller, and she writes a widely read newsletter. Rather than chasing runway bookings, she carved out a lane in travel and wellbeing that barely existed before her.

@candicehuffine

Candice Huffine cleared ground the current generation now walks on. She was among the first curve models to appear in Vogue Italia and the first to feature in the Pirelli Calendar.

Runway work for Prabal Gurung and Dolce and Gabbana followed, along with an activewear line and, more recently, a coffee company. Her grid stays editorial rather than lifestyle, which keeps her permanently on fashion editors’ lists.

@angelina.kirsch

Angelina Kirsch is Germany’s best-known curve model and, these days, a mainstream television presenter. She finished second on Curvy Supermodel and converted that exposure into a broadcasting career with Sat.1 and Netflix Germany.

She now hosts her own show and runs the label Rock Your Curves. Among German Instagram influencers, she is the leading curve figure by some distance.

@_yumi_nu

Yumi Nu broke two ceilings at once in 2022, becoming the first Asian American plus-size model on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. Of Japanese and Dutch descent, she is signed to The Society and Elite.

Music runs alongside the modelling, and she has released several singles of her own. Her work sits at the meeting point of the curve category and the Japanese models on Instagram.

@hhasselhoff

Hayley Hasselhoff grew up on television, appearing in Baywatch as a child and later starring in ABC Family’s Huge. Modelling came next, and she signed with Ford and Milk.

In 2021 she became the first curve model on the cover of Playboy Germany. Alongside that work she contributes to Marie Claire UK and speaks openly about mental health.

@bishamberdas

Bishamber Das is billed as Britain’s first Asian plus-size model, and she reached that point by an unusual route. She trained and qualified as a lawyer first, then moved into modelling and acting.

Splitting her time between the UK and Qatar, she has become a rare South Asian voice in a category that has stayed overwhelmingly white and Western. Her advocacy focuses squarely on that gap.

@marquitapring

Marquita Pring has walked some of the most significant curve moments in recent fashion, including Chromat and Savage X Fenty. Signed to IMG, she was also part of the first wave of curve models cast into mainstream runway shows.

Her focus has widened in recent years toward breathwork and intuitive healing, which now shapes much of what she posts. The modelling continues, but the message has shifted.

@alvaclaire

Alva Claire demonstrates how poorly follower count measures industry standing. She has the second-smallest following on this list and one of the strongest runway records, with walks for Versace, Fendi, and Miu Miu.

Signed to IMG, she has appeared in British Vogue and opened shows during luxury fashion’s size-inclusive shift. Editors book her long before the algorithm notices.

@philomenakwao

Philomena Kwao holds a master’s degree in international health management and worked in healthcare before modelling full-time. That background still drives what she does.

The Ghanaian-British model founded The Lily Project, which supports young women in Ghana, and writes on race and representation in fashion. Her modelling and her advocacy are difficult to separate.

@plusmodel

Vivian Geeyang Kim became South Korea’s first plus-size model in a market that told her outright it had no place for her. She sent her portfolio to agencies abroad and debuted at Full Figured Fashion Week in Los Angeles in 2010.

Back home she founded 66100, a plus-size fashion magazine named after Korean sizing, and became the first plus-size model featured in Korean Elle. Her following is small, though that reflects the market rather than her influence on Korean women on Instagram.