Camille Kostek Says SI Swimsuit and Swim Search ‘Shaped Me As a Woman’

The brand legend reflects on defining her path in modeling after industry pressures to change her body.

Camille Kostek was photographed by Ben Watts in Portugal. / Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

Camille Kostek’s rise to fame is a story of resilience, self-acceptance and trusting her instincts. Long before becoming a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover girl and earning her place as a brand legend, the Connecticut native faced pressure from industry insiders to change her body to fit conventional standards.

During a pivotal moment early in her career, Kostek found herself in Los Angeles sitting at a round table with a management team that told her she needed to either gain weight to become a plus-size model or lose weight to fit into smaller sample sizes. At the time, she was desperate to sign with an agency and achieve her dreams of working with brands like SI Swimsuit and Victoria’s Secret.

The TV host and designer recently opened up about this experience on the Superwomen With Rebecca Minkoff podcast, in an episode titled “Why Success Is the Sweetest Revenge With Model and TV Star Camille Kostek.”

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“I was sitting in that six, eight range... and I was so young, and I was so desperate to be signed,” she recalled. Feeling frustrated and defeated, Kostek stood up from the table and boldly declared, “Why isn’t this enough?” Without waiting for an answer, she walked away from the meeting, refusing to compromise her identity. “I didn’t even want to be there if they weren’t going to champion me from the start,” she added.

That decision proved to be a turning point. Shortly after, she leaned into self-acceptance, trusting that the right opportunity would come on her own terms. “I had to choose self-love,” she said. “I realized that the people who don’t want you as you are aren’t meant for you.”

Her intuition paid off. Kostek was ultimately discovered through SI Swimsuit’s inaugural Swim Search open casting call in 2017. Despite financial struggles at the time, she scraped together enough money to fly herself to Brooklyn for her callback. Unable to afford an Uber or taxi, she caught a ride with a stranger heading a few blocks from her hotel.

That journey ultimately led to her big break. She co-won the competition, posing for Yu Tsai in Belize for her debut in the 2018 issue, and went on to land the 2019 cover, modeling for Josie Clough in Australia—achieving a lifelong goal that she had been manifesting for years. The Connecticut native is now an official legend and is set to make her eighth appearance in the fold this May, after wrapping up a photo shoot with Derek Kettela in Switzerland earlier this month.

“I learned that you have to lean into, literally, ‘the people that don’t want you are not meant for you.’ [mindset],” she reflected. “That’s what allowed me to finally start making money — because I leaned into what I felt my purpose and passion was, even though it wasn’t how I thought it was going to play out.”

Her journey proved that trusting herself was the key to success. “Redirection is protection,” she added. “If I had been signed by those agents, I might have spent my career feeling unworthy instead of thriving as my authentic self.”

When Kostek finally met editor in chief MJ Day, she was met with the acceptance she had long hoped for. “[Day] was like, ‘Excuse me, what? We love you like this,’” Kostek recalled of the moment. That simple yet powerful validation marked a turning point in her journey. “It felt like divine timing,” she said. “After so many moments of doubt and rejection, to have someone believe in me exactly as I was...that changed everything.”

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Today, her story continues to inspire aspiring models and Swim Search applicants. Looking back, Kostek credits the magazine not only with giving her a platform but with helping her develop a deeper sense of self. “They literally shaped me as a woman,” she reflected. “They taught me to love myself, as is.”