“SI Swimsuit ”Model Lauren Chan 1 Year After History-Making Rookie Debut: 'I've Come Into My Own' (Exclusive)

One year after Chan's 'Sports Illustrated Swimsuit' debut, the model opened up to PEOPLE about the sources of her confidence

In the year since Lauren Chan made her 2023 Rookie debut in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit , she feels more comfortable in her skin than ever before.

“I've come into my own,” the model, 33, told PEOPLE exclusively at the magazine's 60th anniversary issue party on May 16.

When Chan was named a Rookie last May, she became its first plus-size queer model in history. The milestone occurred shortly after she divorced her husband and came out to the world.

The platform amplified Chan's refreshingly candid conversations about body insecurity, queerness and diversity in the modeling industry.

“It took a long time,” Chan tells PEOPLE of how she’s come to feel more comfortable in her skin. “I feel like the more I have leaned into who I am, accepted it, loved it, and then lived it over the past 10 years has all made me feel more like myself and more confident.”

Related: 'Sports Illustrated Swimsuit' Rookie Lauren Chan Says She Wants to Dismantle the 'Beauty Ideal' (Exclusive)

The former Glamour fashion editor and founder of Henning (a luxury clothing brand for women size 12 and up) adds that, the more she accepted her sexuality, her size and her heritage (Chan is Asian and Middle Eastern), her sense of self became stronger.

“No matter what I look like, I know myself and I love myself and that allows vulnerability to come out and insecurity to melt way."

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For her second year with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, Chan is featured in the magazine’s 60th Anniversary issue, which includes four covers starring Chrissy Teigen, Kate Upton, Hunter McGrady and Gayle King and three Legends collectible versions. All were shot by Yu Tsai.

Chan shares that one particular shot of her a periwinkle one-piece with a cutout showing her bare midriff shows the progress she's made toward self-love.

“I never would have posed like this before because it’s not minimizing my midsection," she wrote on Instagram. But, she tells PEOPLE, “Rolls could be art and I think the pictures look better than ever."

Her motto for this summer is: “put the damn swimsuit on.”

“You look good. Go make memories, forget about the rest,” she encourages.

Related: SI Swimsuit Celebrates 60th Anniversary with Iconic Legends Covers Starring Martha Stewart, Tyra Banks and More

Having Tsai, who also shot all seven of the covers, behind the camera also gave Chan a boost of confidence.

“I got to shoot with Yu Tsai and I think it genuinely healed a part of my Chinese model-wannabe teenage soul, the part that grew up watching America's Next Top Model and wasn't the size of the beauty ideal, the part of me that was Asian and didn't feel like I belonged. We just had so much fun and made images that I feel like myself in."

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Like Tsai, who is Taiwanese, Chan is continuously fostering representation in the modeling world while simultaneously being a beacon of hope for others. She knows there's still work to be done. And, she's up to the task.

“Listen, I think that the industry is constantly evolving in terms of diversity across the board. I will say we may have taken a step back in the past while, but when we look back at inclusion like 10 years from now, it won't be linear. It'll be like the stock market, it'll go up and down. But, we're still here versus where we were. So, don't lose sight of that, keep voicing your desire for more diversity because brands, clients, publications. They listen.”

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