Martha Stewart, 81, is on the cover of the 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. She was photographed by Ruven Afanador in the Dominican Republic. — PHOTO CREDIT: YouTube screenshot
Some models make a career out of landing on the cover of the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.
Some models put notions of an SI swimsuit cover on hold for a few (read: six!) decades to build a multi-million-dollar lifestyle media company.
And by some models, we mean one model. One who isn’t really a model anymore, but who see’s herself as a model of what one can do in one’s life.
Martha Stewart unveiled her Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover Monday morning on the Today show. At 81, Stewart is the oldest person to pose for the magazine.
“When I heard that I was going to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s pretty good, I’m going to be the oldest person I think ever on a cover of Sports Illustrated,’” Stewart said during a video of her shoot posted to YouTube. “And I don’t think about age very much, but I thought that this is kind of historic.”
Stewart, who got her start as a model at age 15, went to the Dominican Republic for the shoot. She was photographed by Ruven Afanador and appears in 10 different looks. One features her rising from the ocean wearing a fancy pair of Gucci sunglasses (the Blondie GG Oversized Square-Frame Acetate Sunglasses in ivory) provided by online retailer Moda Operandi.
In a post on Yahoo Life, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit editor-in-chief MJ Day had this to say about Stewart’s “historic” cover:
“While the industry wavers on its arbitrary notion of beauty, our issue has stayed the course, showcasing the women of today, the women shaping the future. Martha Stewart is a legend. The definition of a great female entrepreneur who built a dynasty against insurmountable odds.”
Stewart is one of four women to get a swimsuit cover this year. The others are: Grammy Award-winning artist Kim Petras, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Brooks Nader, and actress Megan Fox.