Gabriella Athena Halikas is an American

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

, TikToker, and

body positivity Body positivity is a social movement that promotes a positive view of all bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, and physical abilities. Proponents focus on the appreciation of the functionality and health of the human body instea ...

activist. A

plus-size model A plus-size model is an individual size 12 and above who is engaged primarily in Model (person), modeling plus-size clothing. Plus-size clothing worn by plus-size models is typically catering for and marketed to either big, tall or overweight men ...

, she appeared in advertisements for

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC , Trade name, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain store, chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalys ...

and

Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia social media and instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of the app are that pictures and messages, known as "snaps", are usually availa ...

before becoming a ''

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted ...

'' model in 2021. Halikas walked the runway at Miami Swim Week in 2020 and 2021.

Early life and education

Halikas grew up in Walnut Creek, a town in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. She is

Greek American Greek Americans ( ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. There is an estimate of 1.2 million Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. According to the US census, 264,066 people o ...

and was raised in the

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

faith. She is a cousin of

goalball Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a visual impairment, vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball with bells embedded inside it into the opponents' goal. The ball is throw ...

player

Eliana Mason Eliana Marie Mason (born September 1, 1995) is an American goalball player who competes in international-level events. Early life Born on September 1, 1995 to Kevin and Joanna Mason. She is Greek American and is a cousin of model and social me ...

. Halikas studied at

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

before transferring to the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and houses the main offic ...

, where she graduated in 2019.

Career

In 2020, Halikas lost her job as a waitress at a restaurant in San Francisco due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to pursue modelling and social media influencing. She was scouted by a modeling agent on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, based in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Halikas was featured in commercials for

and

. Halikas later signed with

Ford Models Ford Models, originally the Ford Modeling Agency, is an American international modeling agency based in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen Ford and her husband Gerard W. Ford. History 20th century Eileen and Jerry began the bu ...

as a model and content creator. In 2021, Halikas was featured in ''

''. She was photographed by Yu Tsai in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

for the magazine spread. In July 2021, she walked the runway at Miami Swim Week for Berry Beachy Swimwear, Cupshe, and VDM The Label. She had previously walked in Miami Swim Week in 2020. Halikas is a public speaker and activist for

and confidence. She uses her

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

and

accounts to promote body positivity. She partnered with the Canadian company Pebbles & Palms to launch a plus-size swimwear line. In March 2023, Halikas was featured in Robbie Tripp's music video for his song ''Basic Bro''.

Personal life

In 2022, Halikas and plus-size model Alexa Jay were reportedly barred entry from The Highlight Room, an exclusive club Los Angeles. They posted about their experience on TikTok, claiming that they were denied entry because of their weight. The video received over one million views.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halikas, Ella Living people Activists from California American female models American people of Greek descent American TikTokers American women activists Fat acceptance activists Female models from California Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States Hip-hop models People from Walnut Creek, California Plus-size models American social media influencers University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Washington State University alumni Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)