How Beyoncé’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Cover Changed the Magazine’s Annual Special Edition in a New Direction

Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit issue cover has featured a bevy of celebrities, models and athletes since its first edition in 1964. But it wasn’t until 2007 when Beyoncé modeled for the cover of the edition that the magazine branched out beyond models and athletes to tapping celebrity entertainers as their cover stars. Since then, several non-models and non-athletes have graced the cover, in no small part due to Beyoncé’s cover star status. In the spring of 2006, the editorial team at Sports Illustrated chose music as the theme for the 2007 special edition issue. That same year, Beyoncé was broadening her business acumen, introducing a swimwear line under the House of Deréon fashion line, which she co-introduced with her mother Tina Knowles. The combination of Sports Illustrated’s theme for their swimsuit issue coupled with Beyoncé’s business decision made for an advantageous collaboration between the singer and magazine. Beyoncé in 2007. Prior to Beyoncé’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover, the magazine primarily dedicated the cover shoot to models. Within the decade preceding 2007, however, the magazine began to make certain changes and meet ongoing cultural conversations concerning inclusivity. In 1996, Tyra Banks became the first Black woman to cover the magazine. Valeria Mazza was

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