For Hunter McGrady, becoming a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model doesn’t mean clothes shopping is any easier.
The plus-size model, who recently appeared on the cover of the iconic magazine, said she struggles to find clothes that fit her in the Big Apple.
“There are only a handful of stores in New York City that carry plus-size clothing. It’s hard to find these days and it excludes a large part of the population. The clothes aren’t for a certain body type, they’re for everyone,” McGrady, 31, told The Post.
Brands that once offered larger sizes “all went away” last year, she added.
“A lot of brands… had larger sizes available and you could buy them in their stores. And last year they all went away… It’s crazy that brands and stores are wasting that money. We’re here and we’re willing to spend money, and just because you’re a size 12 or bigger doesn’t mean you don’t deserve beautiful, quality clothes.”
The blonde beauty could name just one store where she could find clothes that suit her body type: Never Fully Dressed on Elizabeth Street in Soho.
“When people ask me, ‘Where do you shop?’ I honestly don’t have a good answer,” she says.
McGrady, a size 20 who this week announced a partnership with Baskin-Robbins to bring back the brand’s Beach Day ice cream flavor, looked forward to shopping when she first moved to the city in 2016, but quickly discovered that the stores she wanted to frequent didn’t carry her size.
“It was a total shock because I’d always heard, ‘New York is the best place to shop,’ so I was really excited to actually experience it,” she recalls.
“And not getting any of that satisfaction and shopping here just left me feeling completely defeated and heartbroken — not just for me, but for everyone who comes here and doesn’t get that experience.”
The Los Angeles native, whose father, Michael, is an actor and mother, Brynja, a model, began modeling at age 15. At the time, the teenager was nearly six feet tall, a size two and weighed 114 pounds, but she still continued to get rejected by agencies.
“I was told so many times … ‘Look, you’re amazing, but you’re too skinny to be a model,'” she recalled.
After falling into depression, she took a much-needed break from the industry and underwent “a lot of therapy.”
She then studied plus-size modeling and, at age 19, signed with Wilhelmina, an agency based on Lexington Avenue and which had moved to Columbus Circle by age 22.
“That’s where it all started for me,” she says. “About seven months after I moved here, I ended up being featured in Sports Illustrated.”
McGrady appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the first time in May, and during the 13-hour shoot, which took place on the remote island of Quintana Roo, about an hour from Cancun, Mexico, McGrady tried on at least 100 swimsuits.
“What I love about Sports Illustrated is that I always get to have a say in swimwear, and I love that, because not many times do I get to choose what I feel comfortable wearing.”
At the time of the shoot, she didn’t even know that she had been featured on the cover, and only found out a week before the magazine made the announcement.
“I never thought something like that could happen,” she said. “It was so surreal.”
To celebrate its 60th anniversary, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit magazine produced seven covers, including four solo covers featuring McGrady, as well as models Kate Upton and Chrissy Teigen, and broadcast journalist Gayle King.
McGrady was also chosen to appear on the magazine’s other anniversary cover, featuring photos of 27 of the brand’s legendary cover models, alongside celebrities such as Tyra Banks, Martha Stewart and Christie Brinkley.
Three minutes into the shoot of “Legends” at the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida, McGrady fell off the stage.
“I actually hit my jaw. It swelled up to the size of a golf ball and it turned black and blue and I had bruises on my arms. So it was nice to do it in front of Martha Stewart and Christie Brinkley and a bunch of people,” she joked.
McGrady, who lives in New Jersey with her husband, advertising executive Brian Keys, and their two young children, has yet to frame her Sports Illustrated cover.
However, she received a replica as a gift and keeps it on display in her home.
“When we announced it on CBS, each of us sisters was given a life-size statue, so my husband has them in his office,” she said.
“So I always say, ‘Forget it during the meeting.'”
