The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is published annually by Sports Illustrated. It features fashion models wearing swimwear in exotic locales. Inclusion is considered a stick by which supermodels are measured. In addition, the issue is a media nexus that in 2005 carried $35 million in advertising. New issues come out around the middle of February or later. First published in 1964, it is credited with making the bikini, invented in 1946, a legitimate piece of apparel. The issue that got the most letters was the 1978 issue. The best selling issue was the 25th Anniversary Issue with Kathy Ireland on the cover in 1989.

Through the years many models, such as Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley, Paulina Porizkova, Elle Macpherson, Rachel Hunter, Valeria Mazza, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks, and Marisa Miller, have been featured on the cover. Other models within its pages, but not on its cover, include Cindy Crawford, Stephanie Seymour, Angie Everhart, and Naomi Campbell. The eight models featured on the cover of the 2006 issue were featured in a coffee-table book called Sports Illustrated: Exposure. Photographed by Raphael Mazzucco, and produced by Diane Smith, the unprecedented "reunion shoot" featured 139 pages of unpublished images. In 2006, the issue expanded publishing to handheld devices. In 2007, the swimsuit issue was first available in China.

History

The swimsuit issue was invented by Sports Illustrated editor Andre Laguerre to fill the winter months, a typically slow point in the sporting calendar. He asked fashion reporter Jule Campbell to go on a shoot to fill space, including the cover, with a beautiful model. The first issue, released in 1964, entailed a cover featuring Babette March and a five-page layout. Campbell soon became a powerful figure in modeling and molded the issue into a media phenomenon by featuring "bigger and healthier" California women and printing the names of the models with their photos, beginning a new supermodel era. However, the issue did not exclusively feature models until 1997. In the 1950s a few women appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but the 1964 issue is considered to be the beginning of the current format known as the Swimsuit Issue.

Non-models in the magazine

Several female athletes have appeared, though not on the cover. Steffi Graf appeared in 1997. In the 2003 issue, tennis player Serena Williams and figure skater Ekaterina Gordeeva were featured inside the magazine. Anna Kournikova appeared in an inset on the 2004 cover, and had a photo spread within its pages.

In 2005, Olympic gold medallists Amanda Beard and Jennie Finch, along with Lauren Jackson and Venus Williams, were featured. Maria Sharapova appeared in an inset on the 2006 cover and had a spread inside. In spring 2006, Sports Illustrated chose music as the theme for the 2007 issue. Senior editor Diane Smith wanted 10-time Grammy-winner Beyoncé Knowles to pose. In 2006, Beyoncé launched a swimsuit line under her House of Deréon clothing label. Beyoncé Knowles became the first singer, and first non-model, to appear on the cover in 2007.In 2008, NFL cheerleaders appeared for the first time. Teams include the Buccaneers, Chargers, Cowboys, Dolphins, Eagles, Falcons, Jaguars, Patriots, Raiders, Redskins and Texans.

Race car driver Danica Patrick appeared in 2008. She was featured in a four-page spread set in Singer Island, Florida.

Reception

To many, the magazine is an acceptable exhibition of female sexuality not out of place on a coffee table. Recent editions have mixed the modeling with a tribute to sportsmen. The swimsuit edition is controversial with both moralists who subscribe for sports news content as well as those who feel that the focus on fashion and swimsuit modeling is inappropriate for a sports magazine. Also feminists have expressed that "the Swimsuit Issue promotes the harmful and dehumanizing concept that women are a product for male consumption." Subscriptions have been canceled by subscribers when it arrives. The 1978 edition, remembered for its fishnet bathing suit made famous by Cheryl Tiegs, resulted in 340 cancellations. Sports Illustrated makes the controversy a form of entertainment with the issue two weeks after the swimsuit edition packed with complainants such as shocked parents and troubled librarians. Recently, the number of cancellations has declined. Nonetheless, to avoid controversy, its publisher Time Warner, did not deliver the special edition of the magazine to many subscribers in 2007. Now, Sports Illustrated offers its subscribers the option of skipping the swimsuit edition for a one issue credit to extend their subscription by a week.

On the cover

Both the 2008 and 2009 covergirls were announced on Late Show with David Letterman.

Cover history

Most covers by model

Model	Number of covers: issues
Elle Macpherson	5: 1986, 1987, 1988, 1994, 2006
Christie Brinkley	3: 1979, 1980, 1981
Kathy Ireland	3: 1989, 1992, 1994
Cheryl Tiegs	3: 1970, 1975, 1983
Daniela Pestova	3: 1995, 2000, 2006
Paulina Porizkova	2: 1984, 1985
Tyra Banks	2: 1996, 1997
Rachel Hunter	2: 1994, 2006
Rebecca Romijn	2: 1999, 2006
Elsa Benitez	2: 2001, 2006
Yamila Diaz-Rahi	2: 2002, 2006
Veronica Varekova	2: 2004, 2006
Carolyn Murphy	2: 2005, 2006

Locations

The swimsuit issue was once predominantly shot in one country per year. As the issue has grown in size, the number of locations has also increased.

• 1964 - Cozumel
• 1965 - Baja California
• 1966 - Bahamas
• 1967 - Arizona
• 1968 - French Polynesia
• 1969 - Puerto Rico
• 1970 - Hawaii
• 1971 - Dominican Republic
• 1972 - Marina del Rey
• 1973 - Bahamas
• 1974 - Puerto Rico
• 1975 - Cancún
• 1976 - Baja California
• 1977 - Maui
• 1978 - Brazil
• 1979 - Seychelles
• 1980 - British Virgin Islands
• 1981 - Florida
• 1982 - Kenya
• 1983 - Jamaica
• 1984 - Netherlands Antilles
• 1985 - Australia
• 1986 - French Polynesia
• 1987 - Dominican Republic
• 1988 - Thailand
• 1989 - Mexico, Seychelles, Kenya, Lake Powell, Kauai, St. Barts
• 1990 - The Grenadines, Windward Islands
• 1991 - Cruise theme - Turks & Caicos, Bali, St. Barts
• 1992 - Spain
• 1993 - Alaska, Florida Keys, Mackinac Island, Martha's Vineyard, Oahu
• 1994 - Pool theme - Southern California, Colorado, Florida, Bali, Pantelleria, Sardinia, St. Maarten, Mexico, Hong Kong
• 1995 - Bermuda, Costa Rica
• 1996 - South Africa
• 1997 - Bahamas, Monaco, Venezuela, Mexico, Malibu
• 1998 - Equator theme - Maldives, Kenya, Indonesia, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
• 1999 - Necker Island, Guana Island
• 2000 - Pacific theme - Malaysia, Oahu, Maui, Mexico
• 2001 - Tunisia, Greece, Italy, Bahamas, Las Vegas
• 2002 - Latin theme - Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, Spanish Harlem
• 2003 - Barbados, Kenya, Turkey, Florida Keys, Colorado, Vietnam, Grenada
• 2004 - Montauk, New York, Saranac Lake, New York, Mississippi, Wyoming, Arizona, Iowa
• 2005 - Bahamas, Honduras, Croatia, Chile, Thailand, Costa Rica, Belize
• 2006 - Hollywood, Tahiti, Las Vegas, Colombia, Bahamas, Palm Springs
• 2007 - Music theme - Florida, Memphis, Tennessee, Jamaica, Brazil, Maui, Grambling, Louisiana, Los Angeles, Arizona, Cleveland, Ohio
• 2008 - St. Petersburg, Russia, Singer Island, Florida, Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands, Maui, Nicaragua, Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos, Israel
• 2009 - Mexico, Canary Islands, The Grenadines, Naples, Turkey

Television specials

Beginning in 1995, Sports Illustrated began distributing television specials based on the issue, titled '[Year] Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Special'. The hour-long specials have aired on Spike TV and TNT and Minisodes of several specials from 2002-2004 are available on Crackle.

For January 2005, NBC produced the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search, a reality TV show documenting twelve previously-unknown fashion models as they competed against one another over five weeks for the grand prize: a pictorial in the 2005 edition of the Swimsuit Issue and a modeling contract with NEXT Model Management worth one million US dollars. Alicia Hall won the competition.

References

1. Sports Illustrated 50: The Anniversary Book, Rob Fleder, 2005, p.286, ISBN 1-932273-49-2
2. Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, Winter 2007, p.15, Diane Smith, senior editor
3. Supermodel Marisa Miller Adorns the Cover of the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue on Newsstands Today!
4. Feminist Media Round-Up: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Lisa Bennett, Communications Director, National Organization for Women. February 22, 2002.
5. Sports Illustrated 50: The Anniversary Book, Rob Fleder, 2005, p.286, ISBN 1-932273-49-2

External links

• SI.com
• SI.com - SI Swimsuit 2008
• SI.com - Swimsuit Collection