It was 1996 when Tyra Banks first graced the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, standing back to back with Valeria Mazza in leopard-print bikinis. However, it was the next year when Banks achieved another, more meaningful first: her first solo Swimsuit Issue cover — because it wasn't just her first solo cover, it was the first solo cover for any black woman in the publication's history. And now, over two decades later, Banks has come out of modeling retirement to achieve yet another SI accomplishment: She's the oldest woman ever to be on the cover of the Swimsuit Issue.
Looking at Banks's gorgeous cover photo, the first thing that comes to mind probably isn't, "That's a 45-year-old woman." But after you take in her masterful smize, her glowing skin, and her curves in that tiny yellow bikini, it's worth taking a moment to appreciate her age — not because it's unusual for someone in their mid-40s to look incredible (it's not), but because it has taken such a long time for one of the most famous arbiters of sexiness to admit and celebrate that.
Part of what made this cover possible has been editor MJ Day's incredible work to make the issue — shortened from Swimsuit to Swim this year — more inclusive. The last few years have seen more models of color, a wider array of body sizes, and issue veterans like Paulina Porizkova and Christie Brinkley coming back for spreads in their 50s and 60s. And that new undercurrent is one of the reasons Banks, who helped the magazine take one of its first and most important steps toward inclusivity in 1997, was a no-brainer for one of this year's three covers, according to Day.
“Since Tyra’s first cover in 1996, she’s transformed herself into nothing less than a mogul, a cultural force and a supernova of inspiration and empowerment," Day said in a Sports Illustrated post announcing the covers. "She’s kind of the Swimsuit Issue ethos come to life, everything we know this franchise can be."
And Tyra herself is aware of just how important her second solo Swimsuit Issue cover is, posting it on Twitter and writing, "This is for everybody that has been told that they are not good enough because of their body, their age, their everything. #BanX is here to tell you that you ARE friggin’ fierce no matter what anybody says!"
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You can find Banks's cover — along with covers featuring soccer star Alex Morgan and model Camille Kostek — on newsstands now.
More major model moments:
- Winnie Harlow Will Make History in Sports Illustrated 2019 Swimsuit Issue
- 97-Year-Old Icon Iris Apfel Just Signed a Modeling Contract With IMG
- Naomi Campbell Is the New Face of Nars
Now check out the secret life of a plus-size fit model:
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