2013 started out with a nationwide release of Noobz on DVD and On-Demand (on TV). Chenese appeared in the Wunderkind Pictures feature, Noobz, an indie “gamers” film about four friends and Gears of Wars players who embark on a quest to survive a road trip and win a Gamecon Championship. Chenese appears alongside Casper Van Dien (Starship Troppers), Jason Mews (Jay and Silent Bob), Moises Arias (Hannah Montana), Mindy Sterling (Austin Powers), and Jon Gries (Napoleon Dynamite) in the hilarious comedy.
Besides showing her acting chops in 2013, Chenese served as host for red carpets during LA Fashion Week and at Hollywood hot spot Drai’s Nightclub for The Curvy Fashionista Blogiversary, Haute Curves LA Fashion Week, and POSH LA Fashion Week’s March and Fall Trend Report Fashion Shows.
With a broad and diverse audience Chenese hosted events for plus sizes, natural hair, and various charity organizations in 2013. She hosted the 9th Annual Miss Plus Top Model Awards, Curves and Swerves Fashion Show, and a International Natural Hair Meet Up Day event Your Style Your Natural in Baton Rouge. She also hosted many philanthropic projects such as Project Promise prom dress drive for disadvantaged teens in Chicago, NEDA Awareness Week Tweet Chat to raise awareness about Eating Disorders for African American women, and LifeDriven Foundation Charity Fashion Show benefiting kids with cancer.
As an expert panel moderator Ms. Lewis was invited to facilitate discussions on a wide variety of topics such as natural hair and beauty standards within our society at the Afrolicious Hair Affair, breaking through and working in the beauty industry at the Makeup Beauty Guru Mixer, and the women’s liberation movement at the film screening of Feminist: Stories from Women’s Liberation where she also lead a Q&A with the film’s director in Beverly Hills.
This year Aida Cosmetics launched a Confidence and Glamour national campaign featuring Chenese. The purpose of the campaign is to celebrate plus size beauty. Aida Cosmetics introduced the campaign with an exclusive launch party for beauty bloggers and industry influencers, followed by the ads appearing in various magazines, blogs, and at Aida Cosmetics sponsored events. The Confidence and Glamour campaign featuring Chenese has been Aida Cosmetics most successful campaign to date!
Chenese returned to the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans for the fourth year and interviewed celebrities such as Michelle Williams from Destiny’s Child, SWV, The Braxtons , Avant, PJ Morton from Maroon 5, and many more. While at the Essence Music Festival Chenese re-partnered with Simply Fashion, who not only dressed her for the entire weekend, but gave away shopping sprees to many of Chenese’s lucky fans though a daily Instagram giveaway! Chenese was also a special guest at Dr. Miracle’s, a leading ethnic hair care line, signature consumer event The Doctor’s Prescription Lounge (#RXForStyle) during the Essence Festival Weekend.
The full figured fabulousness continued to shine in 2013 as Chenese appeared on the Huffington Post Live for a positive segment to discuss the plus size bikini phenomenon, better known as the “fatkini”. She also created a Meetup Group for the Los Angeles Plus Community and hosted four Meetups throughout Los Angeles and Orange County and helped to create a stronger network for the plus industry in Los Angeles. Chenese also appeared as a co-host on the newly launched web series Go Curvy.
In 2013 a new pageant system for plus size women, Miss Plus USA, was launched. Ms. Lewis was appointed to the Advisory Board Chair, among a group of industry icons, to provide leadership for the Advisory Board whose function is to provide the Executive Office with guidance and recommendations concerning Miss Plus USA.
This year Chenese’s 2012 Vice Magazine UK 10th Anniversary cover resurfaced in The New Yorker Magazine and many publications featured Chenese in 2013 including Rolling Out Magazine, Pose Magazine, Mhe Magazine, Naturally Happy Hair Magazine, Los Angeles Wave, Womenexchange Magazine, and Chenese graced the cover of Skorch Magazine topless for Breast Cancer Awareness!
After celebrating the 5th Year Anniversary of PLUS Model Radio Chenese rebranded the podcast to The Chenese Lewis Show and closed the year with a nomination for the prestigious Podcast Awards during the New Media Expo in Las Vegas!
Exciting things are already scheduled for 2014, make sure you visit www.cheneselewis.com to stay up to date!