SI Swimsuit’s 60th Anniversary Edition is diving into nostalgia, featuring iconic cover models like Martha Stewart and Tyra Banks.
In a stunning comeback, 52 former models like Stewart, Banks, Christie Brinkley, Molly Sims, and Paulina Porizkova reunited for group covers shot by photographer Yu Tsai, celebrating the franchise.
“Every Legend here has greatly contributed to the place where we sit today, which I think is the best the brand has ever been perceived in its history,” SI Swimsuit editor-in-chief MJ Day explained in a statement.
“The Legends hold the power to represent the collective us,” Day continued. “We want longevity, we want success, we want power, we want grace, we want self-love, we want inclusion. We want all these things.”
“The Legends are very much representative of this and have played an important role in the last 10 years leading up to this moment, which to me is very symbolic.”
Stewart, a cover model for the 2023 issue, shared earlier this year how returning to the magazine felt “fantastic.” She expressed that being in a space filled with so many other legends was truly a dream come true.
“It’s all the super girls!” the 82-year-old Stewart gushed to People. “I mean, Christie Brinkley and Tyra Banks and all of them. Fantastic. And I look just as good as they did, which was even better. I’m joking, of course.”
Martha Stewart Made History With ‘SI Swimsuit’ Last Year
Last year, Stewart shattered a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit record by gracing its cover at the age of 81, becoming the oldest cover model in the magazine’s history. Before Stewart, Maye Musk held the record as the oldest cover model at the age of 74 in 2022.
“It got something like 108 billion impressions,” Stewart recalled. “[The photo spread] made other women feel good. It made women feel like there are possibilities. If Martha Stewart can pose in a bathing suit at her age and look good and give the impression of utter success and happiness, then why can’t they?”
This year, in addition to the three iconic covers, Gayle King, Kate Upton, Chrissy Teigen, and Hunter McGrady each grace their own solo covers. While Upton and Teigen are veterans of the SI Swimsuit cover scene, this marks a debut for both McGrady and King.
All of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 60th Anniversary Edition covers take the plunge on newsstands on May 17.