The legend known as Tyra Banks has made her return.
People notes the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2019 cover marks her official reintroduction to modeling. Banks has previously appeared on the cover of SI Swimsuit, with her first occurring in 1996 alongside Valeria Mazza. She made history in the following year, becoming the first black woman to receive her own cover.
MJ Day, the magazine's editor, praised the 45-year-old, saying "Since Tyra’s first cover in 1996, she’s transformed herself into nothing less than a mogul, a cultural force and a supernova of inspiration and empowerment. She’s kind of the Swimsuit Issue ethos come to life, everything we know this franchise can be.”
In an interview with the New York Times, Banks discussed her iconic cover, calling it "huge. It was explosive. It changed my life overnight. You have to think back to remember what that did for an appreciation of black beauty to have a black girl, a girl next door type, on the cover of one of the most mass mainstream magazines of our lives. It was a societal statement, a political statement and an economic one.”
The entrepreneur also talked about her decision to retire from modeling 13 years ago. “I didn’t want to age out. I walked out with a three-year contract on the table, but I wanted to say goodbye before the industry said goodbye to me.”
Ultimately, her love and passion for modeling resulted in her emphatic return, and people on the internet can't control their excitement.
