Kate Upton has publicly said that she wants to be more than a swimsuit model.
She proved she has what it takes to succeed in fashion with several Vogue editorials.
But now, Upton has passed another major milestone: her first major fashion campaign.
Upton is starring in a campaign for Sam Edelman shoes, a role previously held by couture model Charlotte Kemp Muhl, Women's Wear Daily reported.
Advertising guru David Lipman, who ran the campaign, said he chose Upton for her curvy body.
"We chose Kate because she isn’t stick thin. She’s beautiful and all-American,” he told WWD.
Sam Edelman said Upton caught his eye because she was often photographed wearing a pair of his equestrian boots.
Upton told Vogue last year that she aspired to walk runways and do a "big, glamorous ad campaign."
But the 20-year-old has been snubbed by much of the industry. She's never walked a major runway campaign and was famously rejected by Victoria's Secret.
Why does much of the industry shun Upton?
Our theory is that like Kim Kardashian, the industry is turning a cold shoulder because it prefers waifish models to voluptuous, overtly sexy women.
But Upton's manager at IMG said he always believed in her potential.
"Kate’s only beginning to first realize the power that she has… A lot of products are now approaching us because she’s accessible and women are captivated by her. Last year it became very clear in my mind that she was a supermodel like Cindy Crawford," Ivan Bart told the New York Daily News.
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