Denise Bidot, Lauren Chan and Ilona Maher on What It Means to Be a Woman Today

The trio of brand stars sat down for an unfiltered confessional during Swim Week in Miami.

Denise Bidot / Sports Illustrated Swimsuit

During Swim Week, SI Swimsuit hosted a number of activities at the W South Beach leading up to the brand’s extravagant Runway Show. The weekend was packed full of activity and included the SI Swimsuit Beach Club, which allowed models to mingle, play games in the sand, enjoy custom cocktails and more. A few women even participated in an unfiltered confessional-style video segment.

Among them were rookie Denise Bidot, cover model Lauren Chan and digital cover model Ilona Maher, who provided their honest takes on being a woman in 2025, the beliefs they’ve outgrown and more.

What it means to be a woman today

“Being a woman in 2025 feels like we’re no longer toning it down, we’re taking up space and just being ourselves,” Maher stated. While Chan expressed that women are “really having a moment” right now, Bidot added that women in 2025 are enjoying freedom from social norms.

“Freedom to love whoever you want, freedom to be whoever you want and just freaking live,” she stated.

What it means to grow into yourself

Chan and Bidot used terms like “freedom” and “liberating” to describe the beauty of growing into. yourself, while Maher notes that the process requires finding and losing your confidence repeatedly.

“It’s all about ups and downs,” Maher stated.

Buy Now. SIP July Swimsuit Issue. Sports Illustrated’s 2025 Swimsuit Issue. dark

The commonly-held beliefs they’ve outgrown

The trio of SI Swimsuit models also addressed a few limiting beliefs they’ve outgrown with age.

“I used to believe in trying to be perfect, and then I realized that it’s so overrated,” Bidot noted, while Chan chimed in to share that she is no longer concerned with doing “what you’re supposed to in life,” and instead, has learned “that to build your most fulfilling life, you have to do what you want.”

Maher, who has flaunted her athletic stature on both a digital SI Swimsuit Issue cover and within the pages of the 2025 magazine, has learned to love her strength over the years.”Being strong is so feminine, so beautiful,” she stated.