Hailey Clauson Dazzled in Bronze on SI Swimsuit Set, Talked Bringing Change to Modeling Industry

The longtime brand model posed for the brand’s 60th anniversary Legends photo shoot this year.

Hailey Clauson was photographed by Yu Tsai in Hollywood, Fla. Dress by Versace. Shoes by Aquazurra. Jewelry by Melinda Maria. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Hailey Clauson has been modeling since she was 13 years old. She was discovered at a young age and has been building an impressive career ever since.

The now-29-year-old didn’t get off to a slow start, either. Her early years in the industry featured several brand campaigns, magazine editorials (like the Japanese edition of Vogue) and her runway debut in the fall of 2010. Just six years into her career—at 19 years old—Clauson found herself on the set of her first Sports Illustrated Swimsuit feature. For the photo shoot, she traveled to Kauai, Hawai’i, where she was photographed by Yu Tsai.

That was only the start of her partnership with the brand. Over the course of the next decade, she would pose for eight more issues of the magazine. Her latest feature came just this past year, when the model traveled to Hollywood, Fla. for the 60th anniversary Legends photo shoot. For Clauson, it was what you might call a full-circle moment.

“It’s pretty cool. I can’t believe now I’m a Legend. It feels like I just shot my first year with the magazine. I was 19 the first year I shot for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit ... So it’s been a 10-year journey with the magazine,” she told the team while on set in Florida. “I’ve grown up with Sports Illustrated, and now I get to be in this room with all these women that I’ve admired, women that I’ve grown up with at the same time. It’s a very powerful moment.”

It wasn’t simply her longtime partnership with the brand that earned her the title of Legend, though. It was likewise her proven dedication to improving the industry that made her a shoo-in for the honor. For the past 16 years, she has become acquainted with the ins and outs of the space—and these days, she’s using that knowledge to address what she views as shortcomings in the modeling space. As “a co-owner of Margaux the Agency, [I’m] using all my good and bad experiences from being a model,” she explained, “to make the changes that I've wanted to see in the industry.” It’s an achievement that she’s proud of—and for good reason, too.

When we asked her what she is most excited about in life right now, Clauson had a simple (and telling) answer: “Using this platform to create something else out of it.” That’s just what she’s doing with her agency and beyond.

Hailey Clauson was photographed by Yu Tsai in Hollywood, Fla. Dress by Versace. Shoes by Aquazurra. Jewelry by Melinda Maria. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated