People think it’s just about bikinis. Honestly, that’s the most boring way to look at it. When you trace sports illustrated swimsuit covers through the years, you aren't just looking at changing fashion or photography styles; you’re looking at a weird, glossy, sometimes controversial mirror of what society thought was beautiful—and what it was finally forced to accept. It started as a way to fill a mid-winter slump in sports reporting. Now? It’s a massive cultural institution that people either love, hate, or love to hate.
Jule Campbell, the legendary editor who basically birthed the modern version of the issue, once said she looked for girls who looked like they were having a good time, not just statues. That philosophy changed everything. It took models out of the stiff, high-fashion studios of New York and stuck them on a beach in Baja or the Seychelles. It made them human.
The 1960s: A "One-Off" Idea That Stuck
Babette March. That’s the name of the woman on the very first cover back in 1964. It was five pages. Just five. Andre Laguerre, the editor at the time, needed something to fill the "winter doldrums" because, frankly, there wasn't much going on in the sports world in January. He told Campbell to go find a beautiful girl and put her on a beach.
The early years were... modest. By today’s standards, anyway. You had the 1966 cover with Sunny Bippus in a neon one-piece that looked more like something your aunt would wear to the community pool than a "scandalous" magazine cover. But it worked. It sold. People liked the escapism. It wasn't about the sports; it was about the vibe.
That 1986 Moment and the Rise of the Supermodel
If you want to talk about the peak of sports illustrated swimsuit covers through the years, you have to stop at Elle Macpherson. "The Body." She didn't just appear on the cover; she owned it. She ended up with a record five covers.
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This was the era when the models became bigger than the magazine. Christie Brinkley had already paved the way with three consecutive covers from 1979 to 1981, but the 80s turned these women into household names. You weren't just looking at a "swimsuit model." You were looking at a brand. This shifted the power dynamic in the industry. Suddenly, these women had leverage. They had voices.
Then came 1989. Kathy Ireland. That cover is still one of the best-selling issues of all time. It’s iconic. It’s yellow. It’s quintessential 80s. But more importantly, it proved that the Swimsuit Issue was a commercial juggernaut that could move millions of copies on its own merit, regardless of what was happening in the NFL or MLB.
Breaking the "Thin" Barrier
For a long time, the "SI look" was very specific. Tall. Athletic, but very lean. Usually blonde. It stayed that way for decades. Then things started to shift, slowly at first, and then all at once.
Tyra Banks changed the game in 1997. She was the first Black woman to grace the cover alone. Think about that for a second. It took over 30 years for that to happen. It was a massive cultural milestone that signaled the magazine was finally waking up to the fact that their audience wasn't just one demographic.
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The Curvy Revolution
Fast forward to 2016. Ashley Graham. This was the moment the internet basically broke. Putting a size 16 model on the cover of a magazine that had spent 50 years celebrating a very specific body type was a huge risk for SI. Some people were furious. They claimed it wasn't "aspirational." Others felt seen for the first time in their lives.
What's interesting is that the editors didn't back down. MJ Day, the current editor-in-chief, has been pretty vocal about the fact that beauty isn't a monolith. Since then, we’ve seen:
- Hunter McGrady (the most "curvy" model ever featured)
- Halima Aden (the first model to wear a hijab and burkini in the issue)
- Leyna Bloom (the first transgender woman of color on the cover)
- Martha Stewart (the oldest cover model at age 81)
It’s a different world now. The covers aren't just about what looks "hot" on a newsstand. They are calculated moves in a much larger conversation about inclusivity.
Why Does It Still Matter?
You might think that in the age of Instagram and OnlyFans, a print magazine about swimsuits would be dead. It’s a fair point. But sports illustrated swimsuit covers through the years have maintained a weird kind of prestige. Getting the cover is still the "Oscars" of the modeling world.
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Why? Because it’s curated. Anyone can post a photo to social media, but being chosen by SI still feels like an endorsement from a legacy institution. It’s also about the storytelling. The magazine started including "Swim Search," where regular people—nurses, teachers, athletes—can audition. It turned the brand into a community rather than just a look-but-don't-touch product.
The Controversies You Forgot About
It hasn't all been tropical sunsets and smiles. There have been some real misses. Take the 2014 "Barbie" cover. People hated it. They felt it was regressive to put a plastic doll on the cover of a magazine that was supposed to be about "real" beauty (ironic, given the history of airbrushing).
Then there was the 2015 "body paint" trend. While artistically impressive, it sparked a whole new round of "is this actually sports?" debates. Spoiler: It's not. It never really was. It’s a fashion magazine hidden inside a sports brand, and the tension between those two things is exactly why it stays in the news cycle every single year.
A Timeline of Firsts
- 1964: Babette March (The first one)
- 1970: Cheryl Tiegs (The first "supermodel" era)
- 1997: Tyra Banks (First Black solo cover)
- 2016: Ashley Graham (The body positivity shift)
- 2023: Martha Stewart (Proving age is just a number)
How to View the Legacy
If you’re looking to understand the real impact of these covers, don't just look at the photography. Look at the business. This franchise basically invented the modern travel-and-lifestyle marketing niche. They showed brands how to sell a "lifestyle" rather than just a product.
For anyone researching the history or looking to collect these issues, the key is to look for the "transition" years—the years where the editors took a gamble. The 1997, 2016, and 2021 issues are far more valuable from a cultural study perspective than the cookie-cutter years of the early 2000s.
Actionable Next Steps for Enthusiasts and Researchers:
- Audit the Archives: If you’re a collector, focus on the "firsts." Issues featuring Tyra Banks (1997) or Ashley Graham (2016) hold more long-term cultural value than generic covers.
- Track the Photographers: Look at the work of Walter Iooss Jr. or Yu Tsai. Their styles defined the "SI look" and understanding their lighting and composition is a masterclass in commercial photography.
- Analyze the Shifts: Use the SI Vault to compare the 1980s "athletic" look to the 2020s "diverse" look. It’s the fastest way to understand how Western beauty standards have evolved in real-time.
- Watch the Documentary: "Sway" and other behind-the-scenes features give a raw look at the grueling production schedules, which are far less glamorous than the final glossy page suggests.