Iskra Lawrence is the OG #AerieREAL Role Model—and, after reading this interview, you’ll see why the brand chose to bestow the first-ever title upon the British model.
A longtime advocate of body positivity and self-love and an ambassador for the National Eating Disorder Association, Lawrence is at the forefront of a new generation of game-changing women leveraging their influence in order to help others through real-life struggles, from grappling with eating disorders to navigating relationship problems or confronting body issues.
And Lawrence really walks the talk. She’s appeared in fashion shows and campaigns that champion body neutrality and positive messaging like the American Eagle Outfitters’ The New American Jean campaign which featured untouched images.
Below, the #AerieREAL Role Model opens up to Create & Cultivate about what the fashion industry still gets wrong about , how she bounces back from career setbacks, and why you should never fear the competition.
CREATE & CULTIVATE: You have been an #AerieREAL Role Model for years now, why has this job been important to you? How have you been able to make it your own? What have been some of your greatest achievements in this role?
ISKRA LAWRENCE: I have been working with Aerie for six years and a role model for four. I honestly don’t even consider it a job. It is being at the forefront of a movement that empowers women everywhere to embrace exactly who they are. Aerie encourages everyone to stop worrying about needing to be more or not feeling like they are enough and start embracing exactly who they are and that they already have their own superpower. Aerie does that by embracing women in their campaigns who look diverse and have shared their powers. The women in their campaigns have shared what makes them unique and strong and that’s really important when we live in a society that often only depicts women as objects or as perfected illusions. Aerie just says the best thing that we can be is REAL.
I definitely don’t think that I’ve made it on my own. I think that, when I was trying to make it on my own, it was very tough. You definitely have to have at least one person who believes in you and supports you, ideally, in the industry that you're trying to find success in. So that means, hunting them down, that means reading magazines or articles about people who are doing similar things to you and whose goals align with your beliefs and hope to work with them. I think that everyone needs help and the journey is very lonely if you are trying to do it on your own. I really cannot thank my agent, Gary, enough—he’s really has managed me from the first time I stepped into New York. He helped me craft this very unique career. I didn’t feel like there was a space for me in the industry until we worked together to create that space. Brands like Aerie have been at the forefront of embracing models like me and many others for who we are, not trying to fit into a sample size.
Some of my greatest achievements, being an #AerieREAL Role Model, have been the one-on-one chances that I've had to actually meet young women—often, in the middle of nowhere, (places where I wouldn't necessarily have traveled if it wasn't for Aerie). I love having that one-on-one time helping them through whatever they are going through from body image issues, relationship issues, eating disorders. I think I am in a very privileged position where I have been given a platform that has created a trust between me and my audience. Also, I love that my followers look up to me, not just for my modeling career but also for the confidence I have. As a model, you are often just an image or a photo in a campaign, but Aerie is always creating these real moments where I actually get to meet people and help them through real-life struggles.
When you hit a bump or hurdle in your career, how do you #FindNewRoads + switch gears to find success?
I have had lots of failures. I’ve tried lots of things that I have been disappointed by, and I can see how that can cause self-doubt. The one way I bounce back is by thinking about all the things that I learned, even if it didn't end in a win. I try to think about the new skills I learned or the new people I met, and that, for me, is still progression. So even if to other people, it may look like a failure, I know that it is still a progression and I tried something new. It enables me for the next time I try something new, to use all of those mistakes or experiences to make it happen.
What do you wish people knew about the fashion industry? What are the biggest misconceptions? How are you hoping to change that?
I wish people knew that the fashion industry doesn’t have to be so serious. It is not the end of the world if you don’t have the latest designer brand or whatever is on-trend at the moment. It is not trying to fool you into being someone else. Of course, there is an element of fantasy, but there is also an element of self-expression, which I think is where fashion stems from. Fashion is telling you to really embrace how you feel and who you are and express that in the way that you dress. Sometimes, I think that gets lost.
I wish there was more diversity shown because often when we see fashion images (fashion weeks, street style), we only see the sample size. It has improved drastically over the years, but it is still a niche to find plus size women or varying able bodies. When we talk about fashion and styling, the imagery we see has to be more diverse because it allows more people to feel like they are involved and they’re welcome into the fashion world. There are amazing brands and amazing designers doing things to promote that but we just need to see more of it.
“The traits you need to succeed today are: knowing who you are, knowing who you want to be, and knowing what you want to put out into the world.”
You recently launched your new YouTube channel All in With Iskra. Can you talk us through the mission and vision for this channel? What are your hopes for the series? We want to know everything!
The Youtube show was a deeper way to connect with my family online. I feel like Youtube is a really special uplifting platform and I wanted to create content that would make people feel good and have important takeaways that weren’t too preachy, but mixed in with sharing things about my life. Those things are often hard to share in an image on Instagram with a limited caption.
Youtube is a way for me to help people get to know me because Instagram (which I love and has been a huge part of my career) still feels a bit limiting in the sense that there are only certain pictures that get the engagement. What I like about YouTube is that it is less about the algorithms and people really want to just get to know you a bit better. I was so excited to create this channel to share some more personal things with my online fam.
You've achieved so much in your career and have been such an inspiring role model for so many women. What do you wish you could go back and tell yourself when you were first starting out? What lessons can you share with others who are just starting out? Why?
I just wish I could tell my younger self, “You don't need to change who you are or the way you look to fit into someone else's ideal. You are meant to be different, you are meant to stand out, and you are meant to embrace all the things that once held you back from the industry. Those are the things that will eventually make you special and those are the things that you needed to be in order to change the way things are. It's going to be ok, you are enough just the way you are, don't stress about time.”
I feel that energy from people a lot, especially going into college, feeling the pressure to choose exactly what they want to do and stick to that. You can fail, you can try a bunch of different things, and also be a multifaceted human. I wish I knew there was no rush. Looking back, being 29, seeing all of the things I have done and achieved, the older I get, the less I want to rush those because I really enjoy the process of all of those new challenges and aspects of my life.
You've been instrumental in bringing about much-needed change and inclusivity in the fashion industry. What changes do you hope to see in the fashion industry in the future? Where do we still need to go from here and is it progressing? How has the way you view fashion changed since you first entered the industry?
The industry is definitely is progressing. I think sample sizing is still an issue. There are still shoots I go to where the garments have to be cut in half and fabric needs to be added. OR, the opposite, I’m wearing plus-size samples and it has to be drastically taken in. I understand, it's more effort to get samples made in different sizes, but it isn't impossible. It is not impossible to make plus-size clothes. It is not impossible to find designers who can create patents for plus-size women and people with different abilities.
Everyone needs to have diversity at the forefront when they are creating and it needs to be taught more in fashion schools. My friend, Emmy, is doing an amazing job of getting different size mannequins into colleges so that when people are doing their fashion design work, they actually have different size mannequins to design off of. It is something that simple that seems obvious, yet isn’t the norm. It should be the norm. Nike using different size mannequins in their store should be the norm. It shouldn't be so shocking and so game-changing. It is crazy it has taken until 2019 for that to happen, BUT amazing that it’s starting. Diversity shouldn’t be an afterthought, it should be the first thought. At the end of the day, it's your consumer, the people that want to wear the clothes, so give them the clothes to wear.
I definitely felt that, in order to make it, I had to be someone else. Not just my physical self, but act a different way, be cooler, go to the right parties, wear all the designer clothes. Now, I am realizing there are so many different facets and you just have to embrace yourself and find out which one feels good for you. For me, there were a lot of times where people on my team would want me to elevate. I am a very low-key, humble person who loves to wear a designer bag every now and again, and I love wearing beautiful dresses on the red carpet, but when I’m at home, I'm almost always in sweatpants. That’s my fashion world. I feel like it would be very tiring to pretend all the time that you are something that you are not, and so I fully embrace who I am and what I feel comfortable in.
There are so many opportunities within the fashion industry, you don't have to just be a high-end fashion model to make it. I’ve always kind of viewed myself as a model for “the everyday person.” For me, that feels the best because that is who I am and I love that my followers can buy what I’m wearing because they can actually afford it. For me, that’s always felt the most authentic and natural.
You are a longtime advocate of body positivity and self-love and you are an ambassador for the National Eating Disorder Association. What have you learned as an advocate and ambassador? What advice do you have for young women who are going through personal challenges?
I am someone who experienced an eating disorder and body dysmorphia. When you’ve experienced that, you hope that you can do anything in your power to make sure that no one else does. I think that's a really important lesson for anyone that's currently going through a struggle. You're going to learn a lot and once you share that knowledge with others, it will go from feeling like a burden to almost feeling like it was a gift that you can then give to others.
I definitely think you have the ability to find the silver lining in everything and you can use everything you've experienced, to give back. That looks so different for so many people, so whatever your struggle is, it’s unique to you but it’s still valid, no matter the size. Especially in the eating disorder world, for a long time, the measure was how skinny you got or how different the before and after was and “you're not sick enough if you don't look anorexic.”
There are all types of eating disorders and they don't all look the same. It is a very complicated world, there are a lot of people going through the same thing just like you. If you don't feel comfortable sharing your story that's ok, but if you do, it can help a lot of people and can often feel like freedom. I find it very empowering to be able to work with NEDA and brands like Aerie that help me give back.
“You should fail as much as you can to learn from it and realize it’s not the end of the world. If it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger—all those cheesy classic quotes that are true for a reason!”
Social media only shows us the highlight reel but we know the reality is very different. What's a mistake you made and what did you learn from it? How did you turn it into an opportunity?
I definitely made the mistake of thinking I had to post certain types of photos, regularly, to gain the most followers. Now, I don’t really care about the follower count, (it’s still not nice when you lose a bunch of followers), but at the same time, I don’t attach it to my value and my worth. It is a hard thing to learn but you cannot have your online life be more valuable than your real life. It can be a positive thing and help your career, but it can't interfere with how you feel in real life. That is definitely one thing I have learned and practiced and put into my self-care tool kit.
I've also tested things like how comfortable I feel posting no makeup pictures or breakouts. The feedback is always really positive which shows the real aspect that people want to see more of on social media. At the same time, there is this algorithm that makes you feel like all your important content gets swallowed up and wants that pretty picture in a bikini all the time. It’s funny because it doesn't matter who you are, you could have 10 followers or 10 million followers, the bikini pic is always going to get the most likes. I’d really hate for people to think, if they don't have a life where they are glamorous on a beach all the time, that they are not worthy of posting anything. Your life is worthy even if you're just posting your dog or your favorite meal. You can't succumb to the pressure of social media. You control it, it does not control you.
You work with so many incredible brands both as a model and in your Instagram content. How do you choose who to partner with? What makes a successful partnership? What lessons can you share?
This is an easy one. My PR team at Aimé & Dean has a pretty good eye for brands that would be a good fit for me, and we work together to vet different partnership opportunities. Or, sometimes I reach out to them and say, “I love this brand, so please get in touch with them and see if they want to work with me.” For me, that seems like the most authentic way to do it. I'm sure many of you reading this right now when you wake up, you have specific toothpaste, you have a certain shampoo, etc. If you start from there, that is the most authentic working relationship.
For me, that's really a no brainer, I really don’t overthink it. I think of the brands I already use and love and I hope I get to work with them at some point and maybe even bring a new element to the brand. It was really fun working with TRX recently because that's a piece of equipment I have used regularly for years. It’s interesting because it did seem intimidating at the beginning and I didn’t think that many people of diverse bodies knew how to use it. When we started working together, that was exactly what they wanted to change so that was really exciting for me because I get to be part of the switch in how this piece of equipment is used. I think that's why I always try to work with the brands that I already love.
“There’s so much to go around, so don’t ever be scared of the competition. You are in your own lane, they are in their own lane, no one can be you.”
What is the best advice you’ve been given? Or a favorite piece of #realtalk?
If it’s meant for you, it will not pass by you. Especially being in the modeling industry where it is so competitive and so easy to compare yourself to others. The best piece of advice I’ve gotten is: if you don't get this modeling job, it wasn't meant for you anyway. It's so easy to get caught in a comparison trap and that does nothing but drive you crazy. I feel like now I have blinders on, and I don't even do it intentionally, I’m just very unaware of what other people are doing in the sense that I love to celebrate other people's achievements, but I’m so focused on my own career path/family that I’m not too worried about what anyone else is doing. There’s so much to go around, don't ever be scared of the competition. You are in your own lane, they are in their own lane, no one can be you.
You always seem so bold and self-assured—where do you think this confidence stems from? What advice do you have for people who are feeling self-doubt and want to have more courage?
My confidence definitely stems from my upbringing. My parents always told me that I can be whatever I want to be and I can try anything. They never wanted me to worry about failing. I think it’s a really important lesson to not live in fear because that will stop you from doing so much in life. You should fail as much as you can to learn from it and realize it's not the end of the world. If it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger—all those cheesy classic quotes that are true for a reason! Also, I think diversifying the people in your life and the people you look at online, is very important as well. Doing so enables you to see, “Wow, look at that person who is going through this struggle and they are still being positive, with a heart full of gratitude.” I can move confidently knowing that everything I do comes from a place of positivity and love.
As you become successful, there are people that love your brand and spread the word organically, but there will also be those who have a bad experience and share negative feedback publicly—how do you deal with criticism and negative feedback?
You can't please everyone. When you are a public figure, you have to learn that some people will try to attack you as a person, which can be shocking at times. Just know that I am doing the best I can. You can't please everyone, so just take it with a grain of salt and don't let it interfere with your life and keep doing things that make you happy and build you up so those little things never tear you down.
Success is such a broad term and it means something different to everyone—How do you define success? What traits do you need to succeed today?
The traits you need to succeed today are: knowing who you are, knowing who you want to be, and knowing what you want to put out into the world. Sticking to those pillars and always staying true to yourself will bring you back to gratitude and keep you humble. I think the most successful people I've met have been very humble. If you lose track of that, greed and jealousy can take over and you end up making decisions that aren't true to who you are. I think my idea of success is living the life that I want to be living. I've met people that, for them, success is living on the same street as their mom, being a school teacher, and marrying their partner who works down the road and that's beautiful. Other people, want to have a backpack and travel around the world on their own and to them, success is being able to do that. Everyone's success is so unique to them but it always stems back to, what do you truly want in life because what makes you truly happy?
What is the #1 book you always recommend? Why?
Funny story. Now that I'm pregnant, I am reading this amazing book that I would definitely have anyone that's pregnant or planning to be pregnant read. It's called Three in a Bed and I find it absolutely fascinating. For me, motherhood has been my biggest goal and dream and something that I want to make sure that I am as prepared as possible. For me, it's the most important job you can do in the whole world. Raising this human to be a good person who is motivated and passionate and embraces all the things that make them special. I think it's a fantastic book in a world where childbirth has a set routine when in reality there are so many options.
Photographer: Riccardo Vimercati
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