Sabina Karlsson: Model told she was too big at size 6 on returning to fashion industry as a plus-size model

A UK size 6 model who was told she was too big by agents has described how leaving the industry and returning to work as a “plus-size” UK size 16 model led her to a successful and fulfilling career.

Swedish model Sabina Karlsson was scouted at the age of four and went on to work with a number of high-end designers such as Jean Paul Gautier and Armani. But after turning 17, Karlsson says she was repeatedly told she was too big by casting agents, leading her to subject herself to gruelling diets and exercise regimes that were ultimately bad for her health.

After “obsessing” about her diet to the extent that she would bring her own food out to dinner with friends, Karlsson eventually dropped to a US size 2/ UK size 6.

In an essay for Elle, Karlsson described how she was constantly fighting against her own body by forcing herself to be unnaturally slim, before eventually deciding to leave “straight-size” modelling. Her return to the fashion industry as a "plus-size" model in 2010 has been marked by a number of major campaigns and Karlsson now has a strong social media following.

“In 2010, I decided to transition to plus-size," she explains. "I didn't really know too much about the plus-size industry, so I was even surprised that you could be working full time as a plus size model. But to me, it was like my biggest wish had just come true. I was being successful in the body that I had, and I didn't have to work so hard to just be accepted. After a few years in the plus-size industry, I'm so glad. I would never want to go back.”

Karlsson said casting agents would focus much of their criticism on her thighs, meaning she was never shot wearing skirts or shorter dresses. Now, she often models both.

“That's the only thing that people would always talk about, like I was ‘bottom heavy’, and blah, blah, blah. I never wore shorts as a straight size model. I would always wear a longer dress, and I would hide my legs. Now, I've started wearing shorts. I've actually started to embrace them. I love my thighs, and I would not want to have a thigh gap."

Karlsson is also a body positive activist who has joined ranks with Ashley Graham for Lane Bryant's Plus is Equal campaign. Now represented by JAG Models and Milk Management, the same agency representing plus-size supermodel Tess Holliday, she has appeared in a number of campaigns for major retailers such as H&M and recently opened the Chromat show at New York Fashion Week.