Don't photoshop my pictures, says plus-size model Iskra Lawrence

NEW YORK - For years, images of impossibly slim women have filled fashion magazines, billboards and television screens.

Now, 26-year-old British model Iskra Lawrence is waging war on unattainable beauty standards in the fashion world.

She is among a growing number of plus-size models finding fame and calling themselves body activists, promoting health and well-being.

She also refuses to allow clients to photoshop any of her images.

"The whole concept of Photoshop is an illusion," Lawrence said.

"They're not flaws. They're part of your body. We were just convinced by society and the media that there was something wrong with them."

In Britain, around 57 per cent of women have an above average body mass index.

In the United States, that figure rises to 62 per cent, and the average American woman is a size 14-16.

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Lawrence averages a US size 10 to 12, yet for years was told she was too fat to model.

A sample size on the runway can be as small as zero.

But change is afoot. Ashley Graham, who last year became the first "curve" model on the cover of the annual "Swimsuit Issue" of magazine Sports Illustrated is on the cusp of becoming a household name.

Popular culture is suddenly full of strong women proud of their curves from singers Adele and Beyonce to comedians Amy Schumer and Melissa McCarthy, and tennis star Serena Williams.

Following repeated scandals about anorexia, French holding companies LVMH and Kering, which own dozens of top labels from Christian Dior to Saint Laurent, just days ago pledged to ban size zero models from their advertising and catwalk shows.