Chesterfield Woman Makes A Splash as Plus-Sized Swimwear Model

Chesterfield model Jennie Runk, 24, created quite a splash earlier this year when she appeared front and center in fashion chain’s H&M summer swimsuit and beachwear campaign.

The debate she prompted, which rapidly spread throughout all corners of the Internet and gained national and international media attention, came because she wears a size that’s actually the average for an American woman but considered “plus-size” in the modeling world.

In response, the 5-foot-10 Runk penned an essay for the BBC discussing her life as a fashion model that wears a size 12 or 14 and asked that people move on from obsessing about weight.

"There's no need to glamorise one body type and slam another," she said. "We need to stop this absurd hatred towards bodies for being different sizes. It doesn't help anyone and it's getting old."

The sudden fame also come a little unexpected for Runk. However, she wrote that she’s grateful it has allowed her to have an impact, particularly for younger teenage girls who are may struggle with their body image.

“Some (people) even told me that my confidence has inspired them to try on a bikini for the first time in years,” she said. “This is exactly the kind of thing I’ve always wanted to accomplish, showing women that it’s OK to be confident even if you’re not the popular notion of ‘perfect.’”

It's also prompting quite the conversation. An article on Runk by St. Louis Post-Dispatch's fashion blogger Debra Bass noted how stories about the H&M campaign are usually followed by a tumult of comments. While most are positive, there has been plenty of vitriol as well. 

According to the BBC, Runk spent her own teenage years in Chesterfield before studying writing at Stephens College in Columbia, Mo. She’s been modeling since 2001 and moved to New York in 2011 to fully pursue her modeling career.