Paloma Elsesser

Defining work

Paloma Elsesser is an American model born in London and raised in Los Angeles. She moved to New York and studied psychology and literature at the New School, sharing style and writing online. Her route differed from childhood training around a conventional model body. Entering the industry as an adult after other experiences became important in later interviews and in developing her own voice.

Paloma Elsesser shared British Vogue’s 2023 cover with Precious Lee and Jill Kortleve in a discussion of a new model generation. That year she became the first plus-size recipient of the Fashion Awards’ Model of the Year. Recognition carried symbolic weight, but the public response she later described showed that prejudice persisted. Achievement and remaining constraints belong in the same record.