Several WNBA stars had to strip down to black for a Sports Illustrated swimsuit and the photos are both beautiful and wild. Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Nneka Ogwumike, Te’a Cooper and DiDi Richards broke the Internet by posing in black swimsuits for the latest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue via GST;
“The women of @wnba traded their uniforms for swimsuits and made all our dreams come true. Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Nneka Ogwumike, Te’a Cooper and DiDi Richards will be featured on our 2022 newsstands on May 19,” the magazine shared on Instagram on Monday. “These players not only dominate on the field, but tirelessly lead the charge in speaking out on social justice issues, fighting for racial justice and equality, and working together to create lasting change.”
Bird and Stewart, who play for the Seattle Storm, posed alongside Ogwumike, who plays for the Los Angeles Sparks. Richards, who plays for the New York Liberty, posed alongside Cooper, who was recently released from the Los Angeles Sparks.
This is a huge moment for SI Swim and the WNBA.
The IF swimsuit problem has been around forever.
The swimsuit issue was invented by Sports Illustrated editor André Laguerre to fill the winter months, a typically slow time in the sports calendar. He asked fashion journalist Jule Campbell to participate in a shoot to fill the space, including the cover, with a beautiful model. The first issue, released in 1964, featured a cover featuring Babette March and a five-page layout. Campbell quickly became a powerful figure in modeling and turned the subject into a media phenomenon by featuring “bigger, healthier” California women and printing the models’ names with their photos, ushering in a new era of mannequins. In the 1950s, a few women appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but the 1964 issue is considered the beginning of the current format known as the swimsuit issue. The issue that received the most letters was the 1978 edition. In 1997, Tyra Banks was the first black woman to grace the cover. Since 1997, the Swimsuit Issue has been a standalone edition, separate from the regular weekly magazine. Its best-selling issue was the 25th anniversary issue with Kathy Ireland on the cover in 1989.
Over the years, many models, such as Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley, Paulina Porizkova, Elle Macpherson, Rachel Hunter, Rebecca Romijn, Petra Nemcova, Valeria Mazza, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks, Marisa Miller and Irina Shayk, have made the blanket. . Other models in its pages, but not on its cover, include Cindy Crawford, Stephanie Seymour, Niki Taylor, Angie Everhart and Naomi Campbell. The eight models featured on the cover of the 2006 issue were featured in a book called Sports Illustrated: Exposure. Photographed by Raphael Mazzucco and produced by Diane Smith, this unprecedented “reunion shoot” featured 139 pages of never-before-seen images. In 2006, the issue expanded release to portable devices. In 2007, the swimsuit issue first became available in China.
The 2008-2013 covergirls were announced during the Late Show with David Letterman. The 2014 and 2017 cover girls were announced on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The 2015 cover model was announced on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
The 2019 covers were announced exclusively on Good Morning America with Tyra Banks and Camille Kostek both appearing on the show on May 8, 2019.(15)(16) The 2019 issue focused on diversity and inclusiveness with models representing different body types. It also addressed ageism, body image and the Me Too movement.
The 2020 issue was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was released on July 13, 2020. Valentina Sampaio became the first openly transgender model in the 2020 swimsuit issue.
Go to the next page to see the beautiful photos…
