Jade Runk (born Jennifer Darci May-Corsini; November 2, 1988) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

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 ...

. They are best known for appearing in H&M's Summer 2013 beachwear campaign, which was featured on the front page of H&M's

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website in late April 2013.

Early life

Jade Runk was born in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and later moved to Chesterfield,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. Runk became a

Girl Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organization ...

at age 5. As a teenager, they were involved with her high school drama program and worked as a Girl Scout leader. their family rescued and fostered dogs. They volunteered for the cat adoption center for Open Door Animal Sanctuary at Petsmart in Chesterfield, Missouri. Runk graduated from Parkway West High School in 2007. They graduated from

Stephens College Stephens College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Timeline of women's colleges in the United States#First and oldest, the second-oldest women's educa ...

with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

in 2011.

Career

Runk was discovered in 2003 at 14 in a

PetSmart PetSmart Inc. is a privately held American chain of pet Big-box store, superstores, which sell pet products, services, and small pets. It is the leading North American pet company, and its direct competitor is Petco. Its indirect competitors ...

in Chesterfield, Missouri by Mary Clarke of Mother Model Management while they were volunteering for the cat adoption department. At the time, they were a size 8, in between straight size and plus-size modeling. The Clarkes told them they needed to either lose weight or gain weight to model. They chose to gain between to a size 10–12 to become a plus-size model. They have appeared on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' and was profiled by ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

''. They initially signed with

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agency

Wilhelmina Models Wilhelmina International Inc. (NASDAQ: WHLM), formerly Wilhelmina Models, is a modeling and talent agency headquartered in New York City, New York. The company also has offices in Los Angeles, Miami and London. Founded in 1967 by Wilhelmina C ...

in March 2004. They later switched to

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 ...

. Runk starting modeling full-time in 2011 after she moved to New York City. Their first major editorial was Body Language in US ''

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''s April 2005 Shape issue, which was photographed by Steven Meisel. In addition, they appeared twice in '' Glamour'', most notably (in November 2009) nude with six other plus-size models including

Ashley Graham Ashley Graham Ervin (born October 30, 1987) is an American model and television presenter. Graham made her debut on the cover of the ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue in 2016. A year later, she published her first book, ''A New Model: What ...

Crystal Renn Crystal Renn (born June 18, 1986) is an American model and author. Personal life Renn started her modeling career in high fashion at the age of 14 after being spotted by a professional scout in her hometown in Clinton, Mississippi. Renn was tol ...

and Lizzie Miller. Other editorials include '' Cosmo Girl'' in February 2006, ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...

'' in October 2007, and several '' Seventeen'' editorials. Runk was also interviewed by ''Vogue Italia''s Vogue Curvy. Their beachwear appearance in H&M's Summer 2013 campaign was featured on the front page of H&M's US website in late April 2013 and received extensive media coverage and spread rapidly through blogs and social media. As a result of the coverage, Runk wrote an

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...

piece for BBC on size diversity in fashion and their experiences as a model in May 2013. Runk has modeled for many plus size retailers, including two

Marina Rinaldi Marina Rinaldi is a ready-to-wear, plus-size women's clothing brand of the Italian Max Mara Fashion Group, one of the best known of the company’s 35 different labels.�History & Philosophy’, Marina Rinaldi. It has more than 300 stores worldw ...

campaigns in 2012. Jennie has also walked in several Elena Miro runway shows.

Personal life

Runk lives in New York City. They own a one-eyed cat, Jasmine. Runk began taking a low dose of testosterone on July 14, 2024.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Runk, Jade 1988 births American female models Non-binary models Transgender models Living people Plus-size models People from Georgia (U.S. state) Stephens College alumni Models from St. Louis