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When Ashley Graham<\/a> got to work on her new collection with JCPenney<\/a>, she had a few nonnegotiables.\n<\/p>\n She didn’t want it to be like “anything” the retailer had done before \u2014 and it would be exclusively for curvy women.\n<\/p>\n Graham, 37, knew she had to get it right or the plus-size “community’s going to know it’s not for them,” she tells PEOPLE exclusively.\n<\/p>\n “[JCPenney] knew exactly what I meant,” she continues. “They got a whole new design team and said, ‘We want to conceptualize this with you from the beginning.’ That was the only way I was willing to do it, because I can’t put my name on something I don’t want to wear.”<\/p>\n JCPenney<\/p>\n <\/span> The result is her new Ashley Graham collection, with sizes ranging from 0X-5X (14W to 30W) and prices starting at $40. Best of all, the whole size range is available in JCPenney stores \u2014 not relegated to online-only shopping. She’s proud of every single piece she and the team designed and even jokes that a few of the “voluptuous women” on the design team shared a lot of “Amens” while they were creating everything. The designs are just that<\/em> good.\n<\/p>\n The one thing Graham knew she absolutely had to get right with this collection was the fit. Not every brand that drops inclusive sizes specifically fits the clothes on a plus-size body during the creation process. Graham insisted JCPenney do that and have finished pieces that would fit curvy women without a need to be tailored.\n<\/p>\n “This didn’t start with a size chart, this literally started by conceptualizing, ‘What does a woman want to wear when she’s doing X, Y and Z?'” she says. “But I get everything tailored \u2014 my tailor has been with me for over 10 years and knows my body. But I knew I couldn’t have my tailor touch these pieces or I will be embarrassed. There is not one thing in this collection that I’ve tailored. It fits to a T.”\n<\/p>\n She also wanted the collection to feel luxurious but at an affordable price, as well as feature pieces that curvy women are sometimes unable to find because the mass market caters to straight sizes and doesn’t offer as many trend pieces in larger sizes. The mom of three included several coats for heading into the colder months, as well as bodycon dresses so curves can truly be celebrated.\n<\/p>\n “My favorite part was conceptualizing pieces I was going to recreate that I hadn’t seen in my community,” Graham tells PEOPLE. “I’ve had a hard time finding baggy jeans, so let’s make them. I’ve had a hard time finding leather pants. There’s also a tweed set that feels like you’re in Clueless<\/em>. Show me somebody else that’s done it right at that quality.”<\/p>\n With this collection, JCPenney is putting curvy women at the forefront and making them the main character \u2014 something that’s not done often enough. Graham points out that the average-size American woman is roughly a 16, which is technically a plus size, and yet they are often left out of a narrative in various industries.\n<\/p>\n JCPenney<\/p>\n <\/span> Graham and JCPenney addressed that by creating a fake film called Omitted<\/em>, which the model teased on her Instagram days ago. The trailer features Graham as the main character and includes stats on not just how many women are actually plus-size, but how often they’re left out.\n<\/p>\n “We feel the void,” she says of the plus-size community. “We’re in the entertainment industry, and we see it every day. But for women across the globe, it’s thrown in your face. Here you see an action trailer of a curvy woman, and she’s badass. She’s going to go save the world. That hits home. Especially when you get to hear the words, ‘Only 67% of the women are curvy, but only 1% are cast as the main character in films.’ That’s not okay.”<\/p>\n
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