African American supermodel Tyra Banks will be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s annual Swimsuit Issue 2019.
Banks, one of the few black models to achieve supermodel status, scripted history when she became the first black woman to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue in 1996. She was featured alongside Valeria Mazza.
The very next year, she made solo appearance on the cover, becoming the first ever black model to do so.
Banks quit modelling in 2005 after walking down the ramp in her final Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Since then, she established herself as a media mogul, creating and presenting 'America’s Next Top Model', and hosting her own talk show, 'The Tyra Banks Show' which lasted for five seasons and won two Daytime Emmy awards for 'Outstanding Talk Show Informative'.
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!
— Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) May 8, 2019
Drop mic now!@SI_Swimsuit 2019 pic.twitter.com/bgUqGunhAe
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit editor MJ Day states, "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," according to the Swimsuit website. "She's kind of the Swimsuit Issue ethos come to life, everything we know this franchise can be."
‘Shattering Perceptions’ is the theme of this year’s annual Swimsuit Issue. The annual issue has three magazines, featuring Tyra Banks, Camille Kostek and Alex Morgan on each of the covers.
Camille Kostek is a former New England Patriots cheerleader and Alex Morgan is an American football player who co-captains women's national team.
The issue also presents Halima Aden, the hijabi model who made history by being the first model to wear hijab and a burkini for Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue. Paulina Porizkova is another model who is being featured. She has made headlines by being the oldest model to ever appear on the magazine, at the age of 54.
According to an article, 'Shattering Perceptions: It's Time to Rethink Everything You Thought You Knew about the SI Swimsuit Issue' on the Swimsuit website, they are attempting to “shatter perceptions” of what people think about the magazine. The article talks about how women find the magazine empowering, though it started off as “midwinter diversion” for a male audience.
This year’s issue features more of “Mothers. Athletes. Businesswomen. Women of color. Women of different shapes and sizes. Women from all walks of life.” according to the Swimsuit website.
The magazine that started out as a men’s magazine, seems to have modified its traditional content, embarking on a progressive track.
