Sports Illustrated’s 2016 swimsuit edition gives body positivity push by having 56-year-old & plus-sized models
As the campaign for body positivity grows stronger, more publications and modeling agencies are veering towards using models other than standard wafer-thin, young women. One such magazine is Sports Illustrated, known for its annual swimsuit edition.
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In the past, only sexy women who fit into that old standard often graced the cover of the iconic sports magazine such as Tyra Banks, Christie Brinkley, Heidi Klum and Cheryl Tiegs - all known top fashion models. But for the forthcoming swimwear edition of Sports Illustrated, the magazine would feature 56-year-old model, a plus-size model and a British Nigerian model, breaking the mold of the publication’s usual cover women.
According to Ranker, Sports Illustrated developed the swimsuit edition to fill the winter months which are traditional slow months for sports. It gave readers “something eagerly anticipated to publish” after the Super Bowl, in the midst of the NBA season but before baseball season.
Headlining its swimsuit 2016 edition is Nicola Griffin, a 56-year-old model – known for her silver hair – but could give any woman in her 20s stiff competition when it comes to her looks and body. Nicola shares with Yasmina Rossi, a 59-year-old French model, salt-and-pepper hair that make them stand out in the world of blondes, brunettes and redheads.
Nicola entered the world of modeling after her children left home. She was hired by White Hot Hair to be its image model a few years ago, precisely for her stunning silver locks, notes Mashable.
She says she never dreamed to be featured in Sports Illustrated wearing a bikini. But Nicola points out, “As a mother I am so happy that [girls] can look at the #SwimSexy campaign and see that it’s OK to be curvy and all different sizes … It’s OK to be yourself.”
Plus-size supermodel Ashley Graham first appeared in an ad in the magazine’s 2015 #CurvesinBikinis campaign. However, she moves up from ad to the publication’s swim spread.
The British Nigerian model, Philomena Kwao, says it is a self-affirming experience to model and campaign for women’s health for several years now. She points out that sexiness is a feeling not determined by other people’s opinion or judgments.
“It has shown me that I can be myself and be successful in my career without conforming to industry standards,” Kwao adds. It is the industry’s obsession with youth that stunts people, brands and the industry, says Moshe Laniado, CEO of swimsuitsforall. “If this campaign can help tackle this inequality even a little bit, we’ve done our job well,” Laniado states.
