Let's Debrief the 'Sport's Illustrated' Swim Week Runway Show

So my entire TikTok feed is just clips from the Sports Illustrated Swim Week runway show.

I’ve seen the Dancing With the Stars queens turning the runway into a dance floor. I’ve seen Lizzo command the entire room. I’ve seen Ilona Maher bring the best energy to the runway.

There’s just something about the show that feels…I don’t know, infectious? Like every single person on the runway is just feeling herself, embracing her body, and having a fantastic time.

I’ve seen commentary that this runway show included women of all body types. I don’t know if that comment quite hits the mark, but it does point to something important: This particular runway show does showcase a range of body types beyond the typical “Victoria’s Secret model” build we often see on swimsuit runways or in catalogues…and that progress is worth noting, especially as skinny supremacy rears its ugly head back into the culture.

Casting someone like Ilona Maher, for example? She’s a hot, strong, amazingly gorgeous woman, but more importantly she stands for something so important (see this recent TikTok — obsessed, no notes). Including Bethenny Frankel also speaks volumes: Having a 55-year-old model a bikini shows there’s no age limit on sexy, there’s no outfit that’s “off limits” to women of a certain age. And giving Sports Illustrated swimsuit vet Katie Austin a turn on the runway while she’s pregnant also feels like a bold step in a better direction: For so long, we’ve been fed messages that tell us pregnant women should hide their bodies away and sink into invisibility, yet this is a totally different (better!) approach.

I don’t even think it’s about the range of body types or the casting here, though. I think this show and what it means in a larger sense is all about the vibes.

For so long, runway modeling has been all about stripping personality from the models, framing them as blank canvases meant merely to showcase the clothes. And also for so long, swimsuit modeling has been performatively sexy in a very male gaze-y way. But this show took things in a different direction: The models, many of whom are familiar, famous faces, lead with personality. They were obviously encouraged to have fun, to show their playful sides, to be the main characters of the runway, rather than just the things needed to showcase the suits or to cater to male gaze. 

And you know what? I’m into it. Because it sends us a message about what putting on a swimsuit should feel like: It should feel fun and freeing and like an expression of who you are.