12 Marvelous Photos of Marquita Pring in Sacramento
Marquita Pring first appeared on the modeling scene when she walked in Jean-Paul Gaultier’s haute couture show during Paris Fashion Week in 2011. Shortly afterward, she fulfilled a lifelong dream and landed a cover story in Vogue Italia alongside Candice Huffine, Robyn Lawley and Tara Lynn.
The upstate New York native made her SI Swimsuit debut in 2020 and has returned to pose for the magazine every year since. She uses her platform to advocate for body positivity and diversity within the industry.
“I’d say I was around 10 or 11 when I started to notice [stretch marks] on my arms, on my belly, on my back and just feeling horrified because I had no idea what that was,” she recalled. “It wasn’t happening to my friends, but it was happening to me. No one was talking about it. It’s just like this thing I had to deal with and hide.”
Pring added that she wished she knew then what she understands now.
“It has nothing to do with being big—it’s a human thing. … Now I definitely love my stretch marks,” she continued. “I have no shame in showing them. It’s me. It’s part of me. If you have an issue with that, then I don’t need you in my life—it doesn’t matter to me.”
Here are 12 of our favorite snapshots from Pring’s 2021 photo shoot with Anne Menke in Sacramento.