ABC NewsTyra Banks returns to modeling as one of the new cover stars of the 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuitissue.
The 45-year-old supermodel, who in 1996 became the first African-American model to appear on the cover of the iconic swimsuit issue, alongside model Valeria Mazza, came out of retirement for the 2019 issue.
“There is this stereotype that only a 20-year-old woman in a bikini is hot,” Banks told Sports Illustrated. “Like once we reach a certain age, we are no longer desirable. But I want to show that modeling has no age. I’m coming out of retirement to practice what I preach.”
For the cover, photographed in Great Exuma, Bahamas, Banks wears a yellow string bikini.
“I am telling people that beauty comes in all shapes, sizes and ages” she said in an interview with SI. “I have to put my money where my mouth is. I have to make sure my message is pure.”
Banks, a successful entrepreneur, is now a guest lecturer for a personal branding course at Stanford Graduate School of Business, in addition to running her companies. She revealed to SI that she’s now changing her moniker to “BanX.”
The new name symbolizes “X-ing out cookie-cutter beauty,” she told the outlet.
“Mononyms are exciting in the industry,” she said. “But usually models use their first names, like Iman. I want to flip the script and go by my last name. I’m taking something familiar and making it new. I’m wiser now — and thicker.”
“BanX is me, but she’s also every woman,” she added. “BanX represents rebirth and that beauty boundaries only exist to be broken.”
The 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is now on newsstands.
