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Tess Holliday becomes largest plus-size model to sign major talent deal

"This is a milestone," says Tess Holliday, adding, "I never could have imagined that I could be here."

By Matt Bradwell
Tess Holiday. Facebook
Tess Holiday. Facebook

LONDON, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- The world of professional modeling is about to get a lot bigger as size-22 model Tess Holliday has become the largest model to sign with a major agency.

Holliday told The New York Daily News in a phone interview from her Los Angeles home she has inked a deal to be represented by London-based MiLK Management. MiLK represents a number of plus-size models.

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"I feel like it's breaking ground," Holliday said of her major agency representation.

"This is a milestone. I never could have imagined that I could be here."

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Holliday -- who used to model as Tess Munster before getting engaged -- made a name for herself by launching the #effyourbeautystandards hashtag campaign on Facebook and Instagram, gaining 78,000 followers of the campaign's official Instagram account and combined 633,000 followers of her personal social media pages by encouraging women who may not meet model-industry beauty standards to post pictures of themselves online.

"I hope this makes you realize that it's okay to be yourself, even if you happen to exist in a fat body."

The road to success has not come easy for Holliday, who says she was constantly ridiculed for her size growing up, and even her family was unsure about her chosen career choice.

"It took a really long time to get over things that had happened to me during the vital years of my life ... My mom always encouraged me. But the rest of my friends and family thought I was nuts."

Despite confirming announcement on Instagram and the attention surrounding it, MiLK has yet to update its website to reflect Holliday's spot on their talent roster.

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