Fashion ads feature legislator as model
State Rep. Alma Hernandez has broken a couple of barriers for the Arizona Legislature. She’s the first MexicanAmerican Jewish woman in the office. She’s also the youngest lawmaker currently in the Arizona House and the youngest woman ever elected to the chamber.
And now, the 26-year-old Democrat from Tucson is believed to be the Legislature’s only fashion model.
Hernandez is one of seven women featured in a national campaign for plus-size clothing brand ELOQUII.
Her advertisements for the brand have shown up in subway cars in New York City. She’s on the company’s website, sporting a yellow blazer with a pomegranate print.
“Growing up, I never really saw a lot of women who looked like me or had my body modeling for anything,” she said.
The campaign, called #ModelThat, calls attention to negative weight bias many plus-size women face in the workplace, Hernandez said. ELOQUII sells clothing for sizes 14 to 28. Mariah Chase, ELOQUII's CEO, told
that the campaign “challenges the unconscious bias that can sometimes lead to stigmatizing, stereotyping or underestimating a woman’s talents, abilities or accomplishments based on her body.”
The #ModelThat campaign showcases real women who are role models, which “sends the message that it’s about who you are, how you feel and how you change your corner of the world,” Chase told
The campaign gave Hernandez a chance to show that, regardless of size, women should have options for clothing that makes them feel confident in the workplace.
“The real world isn’t all small, tiny women. … We don’t fit the mold of supermodels,” she said.
But she almost missed the opportunity to model for the campaign.
She initially thought the initial message she received on Instagram asking her to apply for the campaign was a scam, so she ignored it.
But the casting company followed up, saying they were looking for real women, not actors or models. The purpose was to show everyday working women.
She called her sister and brother — Rep. Daniel Hernandez, D-Tucson, also serves in the Legislature — to talk it through.
She decided to go for it. She became a finalist. Then, she flew out to New York City for a photo shoot where she channeled her “inner Tyra Banks.”