Martha Stewart - culinary icon, television host, writer of 99 lifestyle books, entrepreneur and grandmother of two - has added history-making cover star to her impressive CV, as she graces the latest cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Stewart joined famous faces such as Tyra Banks, Megan Thee Stallion, Kim Kardashian and more as Swimsuit Issue cover stars, though at 81 she is officially the oldest star to grace the highly influential cover.
The shoot was photographed in the Dominican Republic by famed photographer Ruven Afanador. Styled for the cover in a plunging white swimsuit by Monday Swimwear, an elegant organe cover-up by Torso Creations and accessories by Anita Ko and Jacob & Co., Stewart looked right at home.
The shoot included 10 outfit changes, all featuring classic swimsuits and with Stewart styled in her usual graceful and flirty way.
Speaking in a video posted by Sports Illustrated, Stewart said: "When I heard that I was going to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, I thought, 'Oh, well that's pretty good.’ I’m gonna be the oldest person, I think, ever on the cover of Sports Illustrated. And I don’t think about age very much, but I thought that this is kind of historic and that I better look really good."
It was a return to Stewart's root in some ways, as the lifestyle star began her career as a model for Chanel and others.
It's not the first time Stewart has broken the internet with a sultry poolside photo: in 2020, at the height of the pandemic and its Normal People-induced frenzy, Stewart dazzled her followers with a seductive selfie taken while relaxing in her pool, with pouting lips and tousled hair.
It's not even the first time the star has posed in a racy cover shoot, having featured on the 1996 cover of Spy magazine, perched in an oversized clam shell with nothing but her arms and legs covering her nude body.
Posting about the cover on Instagram, Stewart's team said she was asked to pose in November 2022, "which gave her roughly three months to prepare for the end-of-January shoot—an experience she walked into with confidence".
On her own Instagram account, Stewart wrote: "My motto has always been: 'when you're through changing, you’re through,' so I thought, why not be up for this opportunity of a lifetime? I hope this cover inspires you to challenge yourself to try new things, no matter what stage of life you are in. Changing, evolving, and being fearless - those are all very good things, indeed."
