Sailor Brinkley Cook, Paulina Porizkova, and Robyn Lawley are celebrating their inner beauty in an empowering Sports Illustrate Swimsuit spread that shows the models posing nude with meaningful words painted on their bodies.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, Sailor, 19, Paulina, 52, and Robyn, 28, were among the cast of models who stripped down and turned their bodies into canvases covered with words that represent how they see themselves.
The stunning black and white photos were shot by Taylor Ballantyne for the magazine’s new ‘In Her Own Words’ project, which marks the ‘evolution’ of the iconic Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.
In the nude: Sailor Brinkley Cook (pictured) has joined Paulina Porizkova, Robyn Lawley, and a cast of other models in an empowering Sports Illustrated Swimsuit spread
Work of art: As part of SI’s ‘In Her Own Words’ project, Paulina (pictured) and the other models stripped down and turned their body into canvases covered with meaningful words
Strike a pose: The words written on their bodies reprsent how they see themselves, and Robyn posed with ‘creative’ and ‘nurturer’ emblazoned on her upper body
The shoot allowed the models to share their truth and become active participants in the campaign led by an all-female Sports Illustrated team.
Stunning photos of Sailor, Paulina, and Robyn covered in writing were released on Wednesday, while images of the other models who posed completely nude for the shoot will be revealed next week when the 2018 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue debuts.
Paulina, who posed with the word ‘truth’ written on her side, told SI the project is ‘more than being naked.’
‘It’s not just that you’re nude, but it’s also “you’re nude and you show me the way you want me to see you.” It’s even more naked than naked,’ she explained.
‘I wanted to say that I’m not ashamed of my body and you shouldn’t be ashamed of your body, no matter what age you are.
‘We all have our own truths. We all want to live according to our own truths. We want to be true to ourselves so truth is what matters more than anything.’
Learning to love herself: Sailor, 19, has been candid about her past struggles with body image, and she said the project helped her accept herself more
Sharing her truth: Sailor wrote ‘artist’ on her arm and ‘lover’ on her chest
Exposed: Paulina, 52, posed with the word ‘truth’ written on her side, and she said the shoot is ‘more than being naked’
Parent: Robyn, 28, has a tow-year-old daughter named Ripley, and she had the word ‘mother’ written below her collar bone
The powerful project meant a lot to Sailor, who has candidly spoken about how she used to struggle with the pressure to be thin.
‘It was really special to be a part of this and get to express myself in a very raw, uncensored way,’ she said.
‘Having these words written all over your naked body and having that next level of exposure — I felt sexy, obviously, but I felt more emotional and it helped me accept myself.’
Sailor wrote ‘artist’ on her arm and ‘natural’ on the curve of her backside before striking an elegant pose for the project.
Meanwhile, Robyn hopes that the shoot will help other girls — including her nearly three-year-old daughter Ripley — realize they more than just a sum of their physical features.
‘My daughter is growing up in this world right now and I want her to love who she is because it is so important,’ she told SI.
Role model: Robyn stressed that she wants her daughter to grow up loving who she is
Waiting game: Photos of the other models who posed for the shoot will be revealed next week when the 2018 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue debuts
Sharing her truth: One model wrote the word ‘infinite’ on her stomach in white
Proud: Sailor said it was ‘really special to be a part of this’ and get to express herself, while Robyn called it one of the best things she has ever done
Preparing: Sailor brainstormed what she was going to have written on her body ahead of the shoot
‘If she ever came to me and said, “I don’t feel comfortable in my body,” I don’t know what I would do. I’d die on the inside. We are women and we are human. We have stretch marks. We have rolls. We have cellulite. That’s all part of our bodies.
‘We become so obsessed with our exterior message; we give no thoughts to what’s in our heads,’ she added. ‘I just want all those girls out there to know they are so beautiful and so special.’
‘Mother,’ ‘nurturer,’ ‘human,’ and ‘creative,’ were just a few of the words Robyn had scrawled across her body for the shoot.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that pro-golfer Paige Spiranac is making her debut in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue this year.
The 24-year-old athlete proudly announced the news on Instagram today, sharing her excitement over her upcoming feature while posting a preview of what’s to come in the magazine.
Paige, who has faced criticism in the golf world because of her good looks and what some consider to be revealing clothing, said she was thrilled that the magazine is helping her embrace her body.
Welcome! Pro-golfer Paige Spiranac is making her debut in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue this year
Tough: This is the first athlete that the magazine has announced will be in the pages for 2018
On Tuesday morning, the SI Swim Instagram account uploaded a video of Paige posing in a sexy black swimsuit.
‘Meet the first athlete of #SISwim 2018, @_paige.renee!’ the magazine wrote. ‘She’s using her platform as an #SISwim model to fight cyberbullying and we couldn’t be more proud to welcome her into the family.’
Later, they uploaded another shot of her posing for photographer James Macari in Aruba, wearing a metallic, superhero-esque top and black bikini bottoms.
Paige posted pictures of her own, admitting it was hard to keep her big secret and she is honored to share it now.
‘This issue is about self-love, empowering women, body positivity, and encouraging everyone to be kind,’ she wrote. ‘Women face so much pressure every. single. day. to look, act, and talk a certain way, and it is so difficult trying to figure out what you “can” and “should” be.
‘It’s taken a long time, but I’m proud of my body! I’m proud of who I am! I’m proud that I can be strong, smart, AND sexy! SI Swim embraces ALL women, no matter what, and just wants them to feel loved.
Message: Paige said this SI Swim issue is ‘about self-love, empowering women, body positivity, and encouraging everyone to be kind’
Proud: She’s particularly excited to be in an issue about self-love
‘It’s taken a long time, but I’m proud of my body! I’m proud of who I am! I’m proud that I can be strong, smart, AND sexy!’ she said
‘You should feel loved and powerful and unapologetically YOU! And don’t let ANYONE tell you that you’re not perfect just the way you are.’
Golf fans often remark that Paige is a particularly beautiful golfer, but the comments she’s received have not always been positive.
In 2015, she competed in the Dubai Desert Classic and was asked questions she found insulting, including whether she was a model or a golfer. She also received death threats for showing her cleavage.
‘I had a really rough go of it both times I was here,’ she told The Guardian this week. ‘People seem to think I got where I am because of the clothes that I wear. That’s unfair to me and unfair to all of my accomplishments.
‘For people to say: “You only show some cleavage, that’s why you have what you have,” is unfair. That’s the injustice that we face every day as women and I see it a lot in golf.’
Scary: Paige revealed this week that while competing in Dubai in 2015, she received death threats and was harassed
She said people were angry that she showed too much skin, and she was asked whether she was a golfer or model
In Dubai, she said, ‘I was harassed, my family was harassed. I was receiving death threats, people were invading my privacy, I was being blackmailed. This was going on whilst I was trying to play.’
Getting the opportunity to embrace her body and be proud of how she looks was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up when SI Swim came calling.
‘Sports Illustrated Swimsuit is iconic,’ she told Golf magazine. ‘I’m so honored and humbled to be included. I’m still shocked to be completely honest. But they stand for everything I believe in, which is empowerment of women, body positivity, being able to love yourself for who you are.
‘They allow women to feel sexy if they want to feel sexy no matter what they look like or what size they are. I think that’s an attitude that everyone should have.
So far, she’s been thrilled with how her pictures have come out.
Sport pro: She said when people focus too much on how she looks and dresses, it diminishes how hard she worked to get where she is
‘It was so cool to be out there and feel so empowered. This is my body, let’s embrace it,’ she said
‘Usually in the golf shoots, it’s always, “Let’s button up a couple more buttons. Let’s pull the skirt down a bit more and keep it conservative.” For this one it was, “Let’s take off more!”‘
‘Usually in the golf shoots, it’s always, “Let’s button up a couple more buttons. Let’s pull the skirt down a bit more and keep it conservative.” For this one it was, “Let’s take off more!” It’s just a strip of fabric.
‘It was so cool to be out there and feel so empowered. This is my body, let’s embrace it. Everyone on the shoot was so great the entire time and made me feel so comfortable. It was the first time I ever felt comfortable on a shoot.
‘I love myself and I love my body. It really changed my outlook. Just realizing I need to be a more confident person and I need to believe in myself more and that it’s okay to feel sexy if I want to feel sexy.’
She also starred in a video for her debut, in which she talks about her involvement with Cybersmile, an anti-bullying organization.
Ta-da! Lais Ribeiro will appear in the 2018 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue as well
Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated announced that Victoria’s Secret Angel Lais Ribeiro will be returning to its pages for the second year in a row.
And the publication did so the only way it knows how: by sharing a very sexy snap of the 27-year-old lounging on the beach in a teeny tiny bikini.
In the shot, the Brazilian beauty wears a string triangle bikini that barely fits, as she props herself up in the water along the shore of Harbour Island in the Bahamas.
‘SHE’S BACK!’ the Swimsuit Issue teased on social Media. ‘@laisribeiro dazzles in her first photo from #SISwim 2018.’
Shot by photographer Ben Watts, Lais sizzles in her OlaVidaSwim two-piece and makes sultry eyes at the camera.
This is only Lais’ second year posing for the magazine after making her debut as a rookie last year.
‘As the newest Sports Illustrated model, I feel very proud of myself,’ she said in a video taken during her 2017 shoot, ‘because it’s not easy to get in here and I was really, really happy to finally get into the family and had now idea how amazing the locations, the crew… it’s unbelievable.’
Last year, she flew to Sumba Island in Indonesia to be shot by James Macari for her rookie shoot.
Now that she’s returning — and her profile has been further raised by donning the Fantasy Bra at the 2017 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show — she’s doing double duty for the 2018 issue.
In addition to posing in actual fabric bikinis on the beach, Lais will appear in a bikini made out of shaving cream for Edge shave gel.
She’ll star in the racy campaign alongside SI Swimsuit rookie Robin Holzken, and the ad will appear in-book and online.
And while the model returns to the publication, she will no doubt serve as an inspiration to this year’s group of Rookies, which includes the likes of Christie Brinkley’s daughter Sailor Brinkley Cook, as well as Rookie of the Year Alexis Ren, and Anne de Paula, Chase Carter, Georgia Gibbs, Jasmyn Wilkins, Kate Wasley, Raven Lyn, and Robin Holzke.
Alexis was named as the Rookie of the Year over the weekend, after coming out on top in a reader-voted competition against her fellow newbie models.
The model and social media star joins an impressive list of former winners, which includes Chrissy Teigen, Kate Upton, and Nina Agdal.