Sports Illustrated Unveils 3 Swimsuit Issue Covers: Ashley Graham, Ronda Rousey, and Hailey Clauson
Ronda Rousey (Photo: Frederic Pinet/Sports Illustrated)
Sports Illustrated has officially turned a new page, not only releasing a trio of covers for its 2016 Swimsuit Issue, but highlighting three beautiful women of varying body types.
Ashley Graham, Ronda Rousey, and Hailey Clauson each have their own individual — and completely gorgeous — cover.
“The three covers of Hailey, Ronda and Ashley celebrate the new SI Swimsuit,” the magazine’s assistant managing editor, MJ Day, said. “All three women are beautiful, sexy, and strong. Beauty is not cookie cutter. Beauty is not ‘one size fits all.’ Beauty is all around us and that became especially obvious to me while shooting and editing this year’s issue.”
MMA star Rousey’s appearance in the magazine was expected; an image from her photo shoot was leaked in January and gained quite a bit of buzz. After all, the 29-year-old was wearing nothing but body paint made to look like a one-piece swimsuit.
Related: See Hannah Davis’s 2015 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Cover
Skier Lindsey Vonn and professional tennis player Caroline Wozniacki also did a body paint photo shoot for the issue, withstanding approximately 14 hours of painting before ever posing for a pic.
“She’s a Phoenix, as fiery and beautiful as any mythical creature ever depicted,” Day said of Rousey.
Hailey Clauson (Photo: James Macari/Sports Illustrated)
Clauson, 20, knows a little something about that; the high-fashion model appeared in the 2015 issue wearing a teeny red, white, and blue painted-on bikini. Day described her as “the definition of a modern bombshell.”
Related: Sports Illustrated Rookie Barbara Palvin Talks Books, Business, and Beauty
Ashley Graham (Photo: James Macari/Sports Illustrated)
Graham, 28, is also featured in an ad campaign in the magazine revealed earlier this month. The plus-size model (who prefers to be called “curvy sexalicious”) is a rookie this year.
“Ashley commands your attention in her photographs,” Day explained. “She owns her sexiness in a way that every woman should. Her confidence is contagious.”
Nick Cannon and Rebecca Romijn hosted Saturday night’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2016 Revealed special on TNT as part of the NBA All-Star Weekend. The cover girls, Chrissy Teigen, Gigi Hadid, Chanel Iman, and the rest of the more than 20 models featured in the magazine were on hand for the big announcement. Look for the issues to hit newsstands this week.
