Nazanin Mandi Gushes Over Feeling Safe, Seen and Celebrated on Set With SI Swimsuit

The SI Swimsuit rookie was posing perfection for her sun-soaked photo shoot in Jamaica.

Nazanin Mandi was photographed by Yu Tsai in Jamaica. Swimsuit by LSPACE. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

There’s no denying Nazanin Mandi absolutely slayed her first-ever SI Swimsuit photo shoot for our 2025 issue, and it turns out the feeling of admiration is mutual!

We caught up with Mandi during launch week in New York at SI Swimsuit’s Social Club, where the model, actress, musician, motivational speaker and entrepreneur opened up a little bit about her expectations for what an SI Swimsuit photo shoot experience might look like, and how those expectations compared to her reality.

Nazanin Mandi was photographed by Yu Tsai in Jamaica. Swimsuit by Bad N Bare. Necklace by Eric Silva. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

To start, Mandi noted that, surprisingly, she didn’t have any expectations for SI Swimsuit or the set itself going in, but she instead had a distinct set of expectations for herself and what she wanted to bring to her images.

“I placed the expectations on myself. Not on anybody else,” the model said. “My standards for myself are just so high. So I’m prepared, I worked out, did all of that.”

Nazanin Mandi was photographed by Yu Tsai in Jamaica. Swimsuit by Indah. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Still, no amount of physical preparation could prepare her mentally, and the warm and welcoming vibes she found waiting for her on the sun-soaked set in Jamaica proved to be better than she could’ve imagined.

“When you get to set, everything goes out the window because they make you feel so comfortable and so celebrated in your own skin. Anything that you were expecting in your head, you’re just like, ‘Oh, I don’t care. I don’t even care. I’m here now and, like, I’m gonna give it my all because they’re cheering me on.’”

Nazanin Mandi was photographed by Yu Tsai in Jamaica. Swimsuit by FAE. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

And the accomplished multihyphenate had equally kind words for those working behind the scenes on the photo shoot, including SI Swimsuit editor in chief MJ Day, whom she credited with being the source of the kind reception.

“MJ is, like, heaven-sent, honestly,” Mandi said. “Like, I can’t even thank her enough for believing in me personally, but [also for] making me feel so comfortable. And that comes across in [my] pictures.”

“Same with Yu Tsai,” she added, giving a shoutout to the photographer. “Like, he obviously knows what he’s doing [...] but it was like connecting with him made me connect with the shoot even more, you know? And there’s an art to that, and he knows what to do.”

Nazanin Mandi was photographed by Yu Tsai in Jamaica. Swimsuit by DEPAREL. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

As noted above, Mandi shot in sunny Jamaica alongside fellow SI Swimsuit models Alix Earle, Christen Goff, Denise Bidot, Ming Lee Simmons, Nicole Williams English, Parris Goebel, Rayna Vallandingham, Roshumba Williams and XANDRA.

For her shoot, the model donned several stunning swimwear looks from beloved brands like Indah, Anna Kosturova, FAE, Lybethras and Bad N Bare—and that’s just to name a few!

You can check out Mandi’s full 2025 SI Swimsuit gallery here!

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