It’s Martha Stewart’s World and We’re All Just Living in It

Martha Stewart was photographed by Ruven Afanador in the Dominican Republic. Sunglasses by Gucci provided by Moda Operandi. Necklace by Cicada.

Martha Stewart doesn’t think about her age very often, not in her professional pursuits nor in her personal relationships. Only when she landed on the cover of the 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue—and realized she would be the oldest cover model in franchise history—did it cross her mind.

View Martha Stewart’s full 2023 SI Swimsuit gallery here.

Inspiring others with her history-making cover

“I thought, ‘This is kind of historic’ and ‘I better look really good because I want other women to feel that they could also be on the cover of Sports Illustrated.’ But I’m telling you, it’s very inspiring to take a look at a [picture by photographer] Ruven [Afanador] of Martha Stewart in the ocean here at Casa de Campo and see something really gorgeous,” the 81-year-old says while on set in the Dominican Republic. 

Stewart was motivated to be part of the 2023 SI Swimsuit edition by her desire to serve as an inspiration for women of all ages everywhere.

Friendships that span decades

Stewart also believes that age has nothing to do with friendship. One of her most notable public relationships is, as strange as it may seem, with rapper Snoop Dogg. The two first met in 2008 when the recording artist came on her cooking show and they immediately clicked because of his “nice giggle” and “quest for learning.” He was also her first guest on The Martha Stewart Podcast. 

“I have friends who are 90. I have friends who are 20. That is a very, very good way to look at life because age is not the determining factor in terms of friendship, or in terms of success. But [rather] what people do, how people think, how people are—that’s what’s important,” she explains. “Legacy is what you’re doing right now, tomorrow, next week, the week after. Keep it going for as long as you can because it might be better than anything you’ve done before.”

Creating a lasting empire

Stewart, who is the author of 99 lifestyle books and the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, is also a grandmother. Her daughter, Alexis, has two children, Jude and Truman.

Stewart describes herself as an “industrious” child, who always loved to work and create. The Nutley, N.J., native was fascinated by perfecting things and finding “the best way to accomplish a task, the best way to create a craft, the best way to cook a dish.”

Stewart’s neighbor, three-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg, said it best: “You have elevated the task of homemaking and homekeeping to an art form,” he told her.

“I do not believe in just emptying your closets because it’s the thing to do, I believe in careful editing. I believe and careful organization,” she shares. “And I think that that’s what appealed to the vast number of my fans as being the creator of a vast amount of useful, evergreen content.”

The Emmy Award-winning TV host is proud of the empire she has created, and she’s constantly working on improving and expanding it.

“I scour Instagram daily and even TikTok because I’d like to see if there is a better way to do something. And if [there] is, I will adopt it and I will fix it,” she explains. “It’s quite an amazing accomplishment I think to have created such beautiful content, such useful content and to celebrate the home and homekeeping in the way that we’ve celebrated it making a home really the center of a life.”

Click here to see Stewart’s full 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue gallery.

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