Ashley Graham's Victoria's Secret Dreams Not So Secret

2016 has been a major year for model Ashley Graham. First the cover of Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue. Then a Barbie. Now Ashley Graham's Victoria's Secret goal is on her mind. And it's not like modeling (or designing) smoking hot lingerie would be a real leap for the 28-year-old: In September, we told you about her lingerie collection with Addition Elle. But now we're getting ahead of ourselves. Here's what happened last night.

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Yesterday, the model took to Instagram to share an illustration created by fan and artist Annie Breen. The sketch shows Graham decked out in luxe lingerie and glittering gold angel wings beneath the words "Victoria's Secret Plus!" In the image, Graham is strutting her bad self down a runway.

By sharing the inspirational fan art, Graham found a subtle way to to convey something that's probably pretty personal to the model: One day, she hopes to walk in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Of course, this vision is not Graham's alone; women have been pushing for sizing diversity in the fashion industry for what feels like an eternity. And while the entire fashion industry should take note of this message, Victoria's Secret is uniquely poised to make a strong statement.

As a lingerie brand, Victoria's Secret effectively define what it means to be "sexy." By only casting models within a strict band of physical measurements, the company, intentionally or not, perpetuates the conception that only skinny is sexy. Earlier this year, there was even a controversy in which The Sun inaccurately suggested that the brand didn't include model Cara Delevingne in the annual Angel lineup because she was "bloated." (In reality, Delevingne had a scheduling conflict.) But by celebrating plus-size models like Graham, the lingerie brand could have a real impact on how both the fashion industry and society at large views curves, making body diversity both accepted and expected. If the shifting body-positivity winds are any indication, we're guessing Ashley Graham's Victoria's Secret dreams could very well be a reality sooner than later.

Now, watch Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid take us backstage at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show: