Hayley Hasselhoff wants women to 'feel confident in any shape or size'

Hayley Hasselhoff joined the most inclusive runway at Paraiso Miami Beach Swim Week as Cupshe celebrated "Beauty in All Forms" with the debut of the brand's first-ever plus-size collection.

Hasselhoff opened the second portion of the show, where Cupshe's collaboration with model and body positive advocate Tabria Majors was showcased. She was joined by a number of other women including former Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Ella Halikas and model and disability activist Marsha Elle, who was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency.

"Everybody just looks so beautiful and there's such good energy and I think what we've always needed is for women to feel confident in any shape or size," Hasselhoff told Yahoo Life backstage. "It's such a good feeling moment when we're all supporting each other and lifting each other up."

The 29-year-old daughter of actors David Hasselhoff and Pamela Bach has been in the industry since she was a teen and has even made history as the first curve model to appear on the cover of a European Playboy magazine. Still, she raved about the innovations she's just beginning to see in inclusive swimwear.

"What I love about [Cupshe's swimwear] is there's the sex appeal because you've got the mesh detailing and it’s asymmetric as well, so they're taking note on how to be able to capitalize on a curvy woman's body in all aspects of fit, which is so important," she said, noting that Majors's made very intentional design decisions in the plus-size collection. "I think one of the biggest things [Majors] has talked about is wanting to add color and vibrance to a curvy girl's swimwear rather than it just being the classic black."

While creating a wider spectrum of representation for others to look to is an important mission, Hasselhoff shared that it's also monumental to be included. "The diversity needs to be represented not just even for the person who watches but for the person who's actually doing the job too," she said.

Halikas echoed Hayley's sentiment.

"I feel like it's so rare for a swim show to really broadcast and show all different plus-size bodies. For me, it was really important to just feel seen and be amongst my peers that look like me," she said. "Grabbing the audience's attention and showing them how confident you can be in your skin in a bigger body makes me feel so happy and included."

For both women, a motivating factor of their jobs is embodying the change that they wish they saw when they were younger. Halikas hopes that her participation in Swim Week accomplishes just that.

"I love to empower the next girl watching me out there to show her that she can do it too," she said.

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