Life of Gianna Fakhourie
All about the bass:
“T HE INTERESTING thing is, when I started to love who I was and what I was, everybody else loved me too,” the fun-loving, vivacious Gianna Fakhourie told Flair. Fat, curvy women were not always embraced by society, and though being ‘fluffy’ is sometimes a plus in modern time, rude remarks still seem unavoidable. It took a long time for Fakhourie to get past the ‘you are getting big’ and ‘how you putting on so much weight’ comments, as being fat was new and different for her. The 35-year-old grew up very slim and active so when the comments became habitual, the change in look was hard to accept for the then 18-year-old. “I remember one day looking in the mirror and seeing all the bulges in all the wrong places. My hips and arms were just too big. I have a double chin and a little ‘pooch’ at the stomach. And no matter how I tried, I couldn’t keep the weight off,” she shared.
Fakhourie walked around with a cloud over her head as she disliked her looks and would starve herself to take off a few pounds. She was often burdened by the fact that others could eat normally and not get as fat. Thankfully, Fakhourie was able to find solace in fashion and being an ‘A’ student.
GAME-CHANGER: SELF-LOVE
After years of gaining one pound per week and being sick in the hospital, Fakhourie was diagnosed with underactive thyroid and decided that weight was no longer going to be the worst thing about her life.
In 2007, after her diagnosis, self-love
became her priority. “It’s the aura that you give off. If you’re comfortable within yourself, people will notice it, and even if they have superficial hang-ups where they don’t think you look nice fat, they tend to look beyond the fat. There is no shaking you when you are a confident person,” Fakhourie expressed with joy in her eyes.
With her new-found glow, Fakhourie was loved by many and motivated to go into modelling. This sparked an instant interest as modelling and fashion was something she had loved as a child and pursued in university.
EMBRACING THE ‘FLUFF’
Holding a master’s degree in fashion marketing and management, Fakhourie recalls the moments she hated what she saw in the mirror and how much it influenced the way she dressed. “I would either accentuate the positives or covered everything up, without finding my sense of style. By the time I figured out my style, I realised I loved fashion and needed to figure out what fashion works for my curvy body,” she explained.
Fakhourie admits that though she wishes she could wear a tunic or tent dress, she has found ways to modify the styles she likes to suit her figure. Now, Fakhourie knows just what to wear to turn heads and hearts. Knowing her body and accepting what is, Fakhourie is able to celebrate life, the good and the bad. She even explains that most of her happiness comes from the love and support of her husband, Jonathan Neil.
Born in Florida but spending most of her years in Jamaica, Fakhourie is a lover of the island that produced the man she describes as awesome. She shares that oftentimes, Neil is the one who exalts her figure and loves it when she embraces her curves.
Fakhourie, who is the host of the Curvy Caribbean Conference and creator of the sweet tooth original arm candy, is convinced that life happened the way it should have. Without the weight gain, she might not have been a model and would not be able to empower and influence fat, curvy women to be all about the bass.
‘It’s the aura that you give off. If you’re comfortable within yourself, people will notice it, and even if they have superficial hang-ups where they don’t think you look nice fat, they tend to look beyond the fat.’