Full Name: Kirby Nicole Cernosek
Age: 22
Location: Astoria, Queens, New York, NY
Home Town: Kingsville, TX
Job(s): Model, Sales Associate, Philanthropist, Personal Shopper, and if all else fails, Local Drug Dealer, and/or Stripper (kidding)
Q: How are plus size models viewed in the fashion industry?
A: When I was maybe 12 or 13, I remember watching MTV and seeing plus size model Mia Tyler walk a runway. She is not skinny, and she is beautiful. Many people call plus sized models a joke – that we are not real models, that we promote obesity. The list goes on. Mainstream fashion didn’t recognize plus size fashion or models for a long time. I feel there’s a shift happening in the fashion world, as well as in society. Women of average size (that is not a 0, 2, or 4) are becoming accepted as beautiful and marketable. Is this because there’s a frighteningly large number of obese people in this country? Maybe, but obesity is not something I promote or encourage. I eat healthy and go to the gym two hours a day, five to six times a week.
Q: What happened the first time you came New York City?
A: I was with my mother. We were here to meet agents and see if this was a place where I’d want to live. We ran into a guy selling comedy tickets in Times Square. He was cute, Jewish, short, and had on those ridiculous toed shoes that are supposed to make you feel like you’re barefoot. While my mother and I bought two tickets from him, I explained I was moving to the city to model. He stopped what he was doing, looked up at my face, and then looked at the rest of me. “Yeah! Fuck the sticks!” he said.
Welcome to New York.
Q: What do you think of the word adult?
A: You hit an age and you’re expected to become independent, to start living a productive life with a practical career, marriage, and children – whatever. There’s a weight and pressure that comes with the label adult, like we all have to match this cookie-cutter lifestyle, which many of us do not. Many of us will not choose this path, at least not follow it right away, but we’re still adults. We are adults because we fit the age range, but also because we have the freedom to do whatever the hell we want, when, and how we want to do it. We are also entirely responsible for the consequences of these decisions.
Q: Can dreams come true?
A: I think that dreams come true if you make them come true. If you do nothing but dream and then complain how nothing is happening for you, I will find you and kick your ass. There is no following your dreams. You have to fight for them.
