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The story of model Crystal Renn is a fantastic tale, which is probably why at just 23 years old she has already published her memoirs. Hungry: A Young Model’s Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves should be a must-read for existing models and those who wish to head in this direction.

Crystal was discovered at age 14 when she was scouted by an agency. At this time she was a healthy size and admits she had no interest in modelling. The scout was enthusiastic about Crystal’s look but told her she would have to lose 10 inches off her hips. This seemed like nothing and so she directed all attention to losing weight.

It’s shocking to look at the photos from Crystal’s thinnest period, at around the age of 17. She looks pale, emaciated and unhappy, a huge difference to the more voluptuous model we see now. After years of obsessing about her weight, something clicked and the extreme dieting seemingly stopped as quickly as it had started.

After refusing a $40,000 job (for which she was asked to lose more weight) she signed on with Ford modelling agency, one that is known for supporting plus size models. She started eating and relaxing, rather than obsessing over diets and visiting the gym. “Pizza, peanut butter, chocolate mud cakes. I ate a lot of those,” Crystal reveals about beginning to eat again. “Those first few months. It was absolutely amazing. It was heaven.”

The move to what the fashion industry calls plus size modelling was good for Crystal, and what has made her career. Her successes include wearing Jean Paul Gaultier’s finale dress on the catwalk in 2006, modelling for Dolce & Gabbana and campaigns for Mango and Evans. She is currently a UK size 14 dress size, but has been up to a size 18 in the past. Fairly normal in terms of women in the real world, but huge compared to the size zeros of the fashion modelling world.

Despite her success, Crystal still receives criticism concerning her looks. She has negative comments posted on the internet, has had clothes for assignments that don’t fit and even had stylists complain that they’re doing ‘the fat girl’. She’s even had photographers deliberately adding weight to her photographs when they realise ‘plus size’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘fat’.

Crystal believes that it’s wrong that the fashion industry even has a specific plus size market. “My size shouldn’t matter,” she says. “Let’s get ride of straight size and plus size. Just say ‘model’. Full stop.” She also wants to see an end to sample sizes and the use of underage models to help prevent more young people perceiving size zero as normal and natural.

Whether this happens in the future, we don’t know but it seems obvious that exposure to more models like Crystal Renn could only have a directly positive impact on young women. One can only wonder, will the size issue in fashion and modelling ever be resolved?