Meet Your Cover Model: Kate Upton

The 2024 SI Swimsuit Issue marks the brand icon’s fourth front page feature with magazine.

Kate Upton’s 2024 SI Swimsuit Cover Photo Shoot in Mexico /

An icon of the SI Swimsuit brand, Kate Upton first posed for the annual issue in 2011, when her two features earned her Rookie of the Year honors. She has since landed on the cover of the magazine three times, and with the publication of the 2024 SI Swimsuit Issue, Upton earns her fourth front page feature.

When the model, mother, entrepreneur and actress landed her very first SI Swimsuit cover in 2012, it served as “a catalyst for the evolution of the brand,” says editor in chief MJ Day. Since that moment, Upton has continued to proudly facilitate the conversation around body acceptance.

“After my first cover with [SI Swimsuit] in 2012, it really started this conversation about body positivity and inclusivity,” Upton notes. “When I look back at my first cover, I see how young I was and I also can’t help but be taken back to that massive moment [when] that cover launched and that conversation of my body and what my body was.”

View Kate Upton’s full 2024 SI Swimsuit gallery here.

Kate Upton was photographed by Yu Tsai in Mexico. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

For her 2024 SI Swimsuit Issue cover, Upton was photographed by Yu Tsai in Mexico, where the 31-year-old modeled a feminine pink-and-red two-piece swimsuit by Normaillot.

This year, Upton joins three other incredible women—including brand icons Hunter McGrady and Chrissy Teigen, as well as first-timer Gayle King—who were each honored with individual 2024 SI Swimsuit Issue covers. Additionally, the franchise is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a trio of covers featuring 27 legendary SI Swimsuit stars.

“We assembled some of our most influential alumni together for one legendary photo shoot. Sure, it looks back on history. But more significantly, it’s a window into the present—where we are right now—and a hope for the future,” Day says. “The result was nothing short of spectacular. So spectacular that we created three covers, a triptych that speaks to the collective strength, power, beauty and diversity that is what SI Swimsuit looks like at 60.”

Kate Upton was photographed by Yu Tsai in Mexico. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

You can view the 2024 photo shoot for Kate Upton here.
You can view the 2024 photo shoot for Hunter McGrady here.
You can view the 2024 photo shoot for Chrissy Teigen here.
You can view the 2024 photo shoot for Gayle King here.
You can see more from the 2024 Legends Cover Shoot here.