SI Swim Model Emily Ratajkowski Posed in Nothing but a Lush Green Leaf in Hawai’i

The mom of one, author and podcast host was featured in back-to-back issues.

Ananya Panchal | Jan 28, 2024

Emily Ratajkowski was photographed by Yu Tsai in Hawai’i.

Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

It’s never a bad time to look back at some of model Emily Ratajkowski’s SI Swimsuit features. The Southern California native made her debut with the brand in 2014, when she double-dipped for a glamorous beach feature in St. Lucia and a stunning and bold bodypainting photo shoot with Walter Iooss Jr. The mom of one, who shares son Sylvester with her ex-husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard, returned to the fold the following year and traveled to Kauai, Hawai’i, with photographer Yu Tsai.

Today, the 32-year-old is the host of the High Low with EmRata podcast, and a passionate advocate for women’s rights and social justice issues. The My Body author also founded a swimwear line, Inamorata, for which she designs suits and stars in campaigns.

“I have no balance. I have so many hats and I like wearing them. Between being a single mom, modeling full time, having a podcast, also wanting to continue to write, and running a ready-to-wear business, it’s insane. I don’t have balance,” she said last January, candidly admitting that her multifaceted career is difficult. “When I started writing, that helped [me figure out who I am]. I wasn’t fulfilled in my career and in my life. It was a really hard time for me. I had made all this money. I was famous. I was ‘successful’ in all of these ways that people tell you should make you happy. Realizing that I wasn’t, and I wasn’t fulfilled, I had to figure out what would make me happy.”

Below are six incredible and summery pics from Ratajkowski’s 2015 SI Swimsuit photo shoot in Hawai’i.

Emily Ratajkowski — Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

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Published Jan 28, 2024

ANANYA PANCHAL

Ananya Panchal is a writer on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit. Before joining SI Swimsuit in 2022, she worked at Bustle, the San Francisco Chronicle and the TODAY Show. When she is not writing or doom-scrolling on social media, Panchal can be found playing sudoku, rewatching One Tree Hill or trying new restaurants. She's also a coffee and chocolate (separately) enthusiast. Panchal has a bachelor’s in communications and journalism from Boston University.