SI Swimsuit Unveils New Photos of Leyna Bloom
2023's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is upon us, and with it, the release of brand new photos of each model!
In this month's issue, Leyna Bloom returns for the third year in a row, looking fierce in a striking blue one piece, which perfectly showed off her gorgeous frame.
Bloom is an actress, model, dancer and activist, honored with the Gamechanger Award at the GLSEN Respect Awards in 2022 for her advocacy work for the LGBTQ+ community and Black trans rights.
The model made her SI debut in 2021's Swimsuit edition, landing the cover as a rookie and making history at the same time as the brand's first-ever transgender cover model, as well as the first trans person of color to appear in the annual Swimsuit issue.
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit
See more of Bloom's return to SI Swimsuit here.
At the time, Bloom shared her goal for the appearance: to be “a symbol of knowledge and power.” She elaborated, “This magazine allows me to be a symbol today, tomorrow and forever. The mission right now and the mission with Sports Illustrated is to…invite people to think differently. So, for me, it's just to continue bringing all these different intersections of being, a Nigerian Filipino trans women on the south side of Chicago who is an activist, is a dancer, is a model. To bring all of those together and to show trans women to dream big, and to go after their dreams.”
The model further hoped "to be a vessel of change,” sparking progressive conversation and increasing representation. "That's when we really understand true love and the brotherhood and the sisterhood that we are all a part of,” she said.
Bloom was also the first trans woman of color to appear in Vogue India, and Danielle Lessovitz’s Port Authority, which marked Bloom's acting debut, was the first film in the history of the Cannes Film Festival to feature a trans woman of color as the lead.
You can find more information on purchasing the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue here.