Q&A With SI Swimsuit Legend Camille Kostek

The seven-time brand model and 2019 cover star was discovered through the Swim Search open casting call.

Camille Kostek was photographed by Yu Tsai in Hollywood, Fla. Dress by RHEA COSTA. Shoes by Black Suede Studio. Jewelry by Ettika. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Turning 60 has never looked so good. To celebrate the big milestone in style, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit called upon 27 “Legends”—women of all ages, sizes, tribes and backgrounds—who epitomize trailblazing influence and game-changing impact. 

From supermodel OGs who made their first splash on the magazine’s glossy pages in the 1970s and ’80s to stars newer to the SI Swimsuit sisterhood—the Legends symbolize diversity, inclusivity, empowerment and self-love.  

“The Legends hold the power to represent the collective us,” SI Swimsuit editor in chief MJ Day says. “Each one has played a significant role in the brand’s last 10 years, holding important conversations that have helped shift societal perceptions and led to incredible change for women.” 

The Legends had plenty to say in their one-on-one interviews, held during a three-day SI Swimsuit event at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., where photo shoots for the 60th anniversary issue were underway amidst a flurry of glam teams, wardrobe stylists and veteran fashion lensmen. The Legends were unfiltered, funny, wise, compassionate, profound, and at times, searingly honest—proving that a woman’s inner beauty is her most important superpower of all.   

See more from the Legends photo shoot here.

Seven-time SI Swimsuit model Camille Kostek was discovered through the Swim Search open casting call in 2018. The Connecticut native landed the cover the following year as a rookie, and her successful modeling career really took off. Today, the 32-year-old is a swimwear and jewelry designer, a dancer, a TV host, an actress, and, of course, an SI Swimsuit legend.

What does being an SI Swimsuit Legend mean to you?

“It’s still really setting in. I have looked up to the legends for so long, even before I’d been welcomed into the SI Swimsuit family as a rookie ... and to now be a legend. This is my seventh year shooting for the magazine—my lucky seventh. When I got the email, I screenshotted it. I’ve read it over and over again. Because this means more to me than I think a lot of people would understand. On a surface level, you think of a woman in a bikini in a magazine. At a young age, I saw these women who instilled confidence in me, who showed me that you can be more than a model. These women are moguls, they’re entrepreneurs, they’re personalities, they’re game changers. All of the women behind SI Swimsuit, they’re incredible. It really is a sisterhood. It’s a family. It makes sense why MJ [Day, editor in chief] sits every woman down to interview them through this process. These women are extraordinary. They are so passionate, caring and nurturing. They’re everything that you would imagine a great woman would be. I almost feel like I’ve been inducted into the SI Swimsuit Hall of Fame. Being on the cover, I didn’t think it could get better than that—and it did. Sometimes I stop and reflect about the journey that it took to get here and I had dreamt of a day like this coming. The best part is that life is so unpredictable, which is scary, but then it’s like these euphoric moments that make it so worthwhile to not know what’s around the corner. Living out these dreams has been incredible and beyond. What the magazine did for me at such a young age, allowing me to embrace my hips and my freckles and just whatever made me, me – I can now be that for someone else, kind of like leaving a little piece of my legacy. It is all I could ask for, and more.”

Camille Kostek was photographed by Yu Tsai in Hollywood, Fla. Dress by Rhea Costa. Shoes by Black Suede Studio. Jewelry by Ettika. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

View Camille Kostek’s Portugal photo gallery here. View Camille Kostek’s 2024 Legends photo gallery here.

What are two words you would use to describe yourself?

“Compassionate: I just want everyone to feel loved. Spontaneous: I never really know where life is gonna lead me, and I kind of love that.”

What can women do to better empower each other?

“It seems like such a simple answer, yet so complex: Stop tearing each other down, and lift each other up. We are already so hard on ourselves as women. The journey of self-love is called a journey for a reason—it’s never-ending. You can have days where you’re falling in love with yourself and days where you’re literally having a battle within yourself. It is hard enough to deal with that, let alone the opinions of others, especially when other women aren’t kind. Treat others the way you would want to be treated and let’s keep spreading kindness; there are never enough compliments to give to one another. Whether you know them or not, hype other women up. No one needs to be torn down.”

Camille Kostek was photographed by Yu Tsai in Hollywood, Fla. Dress by Rhea Costa. Shoes by Black Suede Studio. Jewelry by Ettika. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

What excites you most about your life right now?

“I am currently working with the swim brand La Porte, having so much fun in the design world with our amazing fabrics and fits and colors. I have a jewelry collection as well. Around the time that I got my kickstart with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, I met Holly Christensen, founder of Dune Jewelry, and I became the face of the brand. It was all jewelry handmade in Boston. I’m a New England girl, and I love supporting locals. She loved my passion for wanting to understand the design process. It was [supposed to be] a limited-edition [collection] and ended up being a sell-out moment. Here we are seven years later. We just shot our last campaign in Iceland. I was inspired by the blue Icelandic glaciers as I was crafting jewelry with raw aquamarine. I’m really big into manifesting. Little did I know that I was actually manifesting going to Iceland. It was really cool to shoot those stones in the Blue Lagoon.”