Nina Agdal, Kate Upton, and Other Sports Illustrated Models Open Up About Self Confidence, Body Positivity
Thursday evening, Sports Illustrated gathered a number of editors, media outlets, publicists, SI fans, and of course, the insanely beautiful models who grace the glossy pages of the magazine for a red carpet affair celebrating the 2017 swimsuit issue.
The latest issue, which has already generated a lot of buzz, features everyone from cover star Kate Upton and model Nina Agdal to rookies such as Hunter McGrady and Danielle Harrington. The biggest theme throughout the pages is body positivity and new levels of confidence that unfortunately haven’t always been the norm.
While these models strolled up and down the red carpet at the event, one couldn’t help but think, how do they find all of this amazing confidence in such a demanding and sometimes harsh industry?
Yahoo Beauty had a chance to chop it up with Agdal, who shared her advice for keeping confident. “It’s about finding it from within,” she says. “You can’t get it from somebody telling you what to do. It’s all about finding out what makes you happy. I definitely think keeping yourself healthy and in shape is a big part of it. If you don’t feel good about yourself, you can change it.”
Agdal continued, “Nobody else can change it for you, so you just have to do it. Whether it’s doing a workout or eating cleaner, or to stop being friends with certain people, there’s so many things you can do to make yourself feel better.”
The Danish model recently sported a swimsuit that was made up of nothing but white shaving gel for an Edge Shaving Gel campaign, and while she poses almost nude, she manages to come across as super confident and absolutely stunning.
We also quickly caught up with cover-star Kate Upton, who spoke about how she keeps her own self-esteem high. “Don’t put so much pressure on yourself,” Upton says. “When you love yourself and you have worked towards that through your health and your lifestyle, you can really appreciate everything more.”
Rookie and winner of the 2016 SI swimsuit model search, Mia Kang opened up about her personal struggles with her body. “I think that the modeling industry needs a little bit of a kick-up,” Kang tells Yahoo Beauty. “It needs to embrace women of every type, and I think that the industry has been so focused around size zeros … and there is also the plus-size world. There’s really nothing in between. Then, there are models like me who struggle to get work because we are the ‘in-between.’”
Another SI rookie, hailing from Compton, Calif., Danielle Harrington is excited about the change happening in the industry when it comes to showcasing different body types, as well as more diversity. “Oh my God, it’s amazing, especially in this magazine,” she says. “I’m all for that, especially when it comes to skin color and body types. That’s very important for me.”
Most Sports Illustrated swimsuit models continue on in their careers to be become highly acclaimed and sought after. There have been greats like 63-year-old model and actress Christie Brinkley, as well as SI alum Chrissy Teigen, both of whom are featured in the 2017 issue as well.
While most models will attribute their success to hard work, the secret sauce really has everything to do with keeping a confident demeanor that will stand out from the rest, no matter what you look like.
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