Today, plus-size model Sabina Karlsson is happy with her body, but she recalls a time when she was a size two and miserable. As a straight-size model, "I was always stressed out — will I fit the clothes, will I be happy? Maybe they'll have to send me back, because I'm not skinny enough," she says in the above video for Vice's fashion publication, i-D.
The model, who is 5'11" and fiery-haired, was discovered in her home country of Sweden at just four years old; by her teens, she was traveling Europe to walk in the shows of designers from Jean Paul Gaultier to Armani. To the dismay of casting agents and Karlsson's agency, however, Sabina gained weight as she grew older. So, she embarked on a crushing battle against her natural size; she restricted her diet and worked out up to three times a day.
"I just hit this point where I was so tired,” Karlsson told Refinery29 in July. "I couldn’t go out with my friends because I had to bring my own food. I was constantly thinking about what I could eat and what I couldn’t eat. I just couldn’t enjoy my life — and I wanted to." After Karlsson's agency dropped her, her journey to her natural, current weight began. So did her path to a successful career in the plus-size industry (though Karlsson looks forward to a day when models aren't delineated by the labels "plus-size" or "straight-size") and a starring role in Lane Bryant's recent #PlusIsEqual campaign.
Watch Sabina's interview, above, for all the you-do-you motivation you need.
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