Paulina Porizkova Learned This Valuable Piece of Advice From Former SI Swimsuit Editor Julie Campbell

The brand legend has carried the incredible tip with her through years of swimsuit photo shoots.

Paulina Porizkova was photographed by Yu Tsai in Hollywood, Fla. Dress by Marchesa. Shoes by Britt Netta. Jewelry by Ettika. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

When Paulina Porizkova stepped on set of her 1983 SI Swimsuit photo shoot—her debut with the brand—she had never modeled bathing suits before. She was a talented fashion model, but had never considered posing in swimwear.

“When I first showed up at 17, I wasn’t a bathing suit model at all,” she said on the set of the brand’s 60th anniversary Legends photo shoot in Hollywood, Fla., this year. “I didn’t think I had a good body and apparently nobody else did either because I was never booked for bathing suits.”

But SI Swimsuit booked her anyway, and sent her off to Jamaica for the first of 11 features with the brand. When she got there, she found herself at somewhat of a loss. “I had no idea how to model [a swimsuit] because I had been a fashion girl,” she said. “So, [Julie Campbell] sort of had to lead me through the process.”

That’s when she received the “most memorable piece of advice” from Campbell, the founding editor of the SI Swimsuit issue. “She would go, ‘Okay, so, this is what Christie Brinkley did,’ ” Porizkova recalled of those early photo shoots with the brand. “Then she would show me how Christie would position herself.”

With the help of one signature position that Campbell attributed to Brinkley, Porizkova posed for a brilliant photo shoot that would guarantee 10 more with the brand. “I used it very happily for all the years to come,” the 59-year-old said. She’s never forgotten that advice—and she likely never will.