Tyra Banks wanted to "pay homage" to the supermodels from the 1980s in her 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue photo shoot.
Tyra Banks on Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
The 45-year-old model has come out of modelling retirement to pose in a yellow bikini on the cover of the magazine, which marked her return to Sports Illustrated magazine after being the first African-American model to pose on the cover alone in 1997, after being a joint cover star with Valeria Mazza in 1996.
And now, Tyra - who has changed her modelling name to BanX - has taken to her Instagram to reveal one of the shots taken, which featured her in a plunging purple swimsuit, and admitted that it was one of her "favourite photos" because it pays tribute to the likes of Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Christie Brinkley and Elle Macpherson, who lay the "foundations" for her.
She captioned her photo: "I gotta be real with you and admit that this is one of my favorite photos that I took for @si_swimsuit. I think it's because it harkens back to a time in fashion right before my prime. The 1980s. That era of modelling was all about swimsuits that cut very high up on the leg - so high it almost reached their armpits - ha! And I can remember looking at Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoots when I was still a youngin' and thinking, wow, that's sooooo cool!
"I never thought that I would be bold enough to wear something like this and it's crazy because this was the first shot that we did on the very first day at the crack of dawn in the morning. But I was ready. Ready do something different. Ready to do something DARING. Ready to pay homage to the supermodels of the 80s who worked their asses off to lay the foundation for me and future generations to soar! #BanX (sic)"
Tyra - who is covering the iconic issue for the third time in her long and illustrious career - was photographed by Laretta Houston in the Bahamas, and the former Victoria's Secret Angel admitted that to get her "fierce" shots, they had to wait for the sun to come out.
She added: "I was hoping the sun would be shining bright and shining far with me coming back into the modelling game. But no. On that first shot on that Bahamian beach, the sun was acting all shy and hiding behind a massive cloud. But we started to shoot anyway and the pictures were pretty cool, but kinda more Quiet Fierce.
"But then ... some wind kicked up and those clouds started to move and the sun showed her pretty smile! This photo is that moment. And boy oh boy, you shoulda heard @si_swimsuit editor @mj_day screams of joy! She was so happy, I bet they heard her squeals in Cuba! I wanted to join in and applaud the sunshine and throw my hands in the air too but ummmm.... #BanX (sic)"
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