Swimsuit Launch Week Diary Day 2: New York City --> Nashville

erin-heatherton_1.jpg

Day 2 of Swimsuit Launch Week began much like the previous day -- with a bunch of models hanging out in a tent. The ending, however, was much different. In a span of 12 hours, the girls went from tent to red carpet to party to airport to private plane and finally to Nashville. It was a crazy day. Don't believe me? Check out the photos (and, of course, don't forget to check out all the actual 2015 swimsuit pics on SI.com). 

MORE FROM LAUNCH WEEK:The Lead-Up | Day 1 | 2015 Swimsuit Photos

The tent opened at 11 a.m. and within 15 minutes, it was near capacity. Erin Heatherton found herself right in the middle of the action.

Image placeholder title

Gigi Hadid meets her fans. The #GiForce was well represented at Tent City. I asked Gigi in the early afternoon how many selfies she's taken with fans so far. She estimated about 300. 

gigi-hadid-autograph.jpg
Image placeholder title

Nina Agdal and Samantha Hoopes strike a pose. I told Nina I wanted to shoot a short video and she was kind enough to do a little dance.

nina-hoopes.jpg
Image placeholder title

This is Derrick. Or maybe Derek. I forgot to ask him the correct spelling. Derrick/Derek was minding his own business walking down 6th Avenue when we (SwimDaily ace Kelsey and I) stopped him and asked if he wanted to get his face shaved by a Swimsuit model. We decided a couple days ago to find a random passerby who needed a shave, bring him to the Schick booth and let Chanel do her thing. Derrick/Derek was that passerby. Lucky guy.

chanel-iman-schick.jpg
Image placeholder title

Chrissy Teigen photobombs an otherwise lovely photo of Nina and Swimsuit Editor MJ Day. 

nina-mj.jpg
Image placeholder title

Jessica Gomes and Rose Bertram take a selfie.

rose-gomes.jpg

Image placeholder title

Ace photographer Sara Sampaio take a shot of Jess Gomes, Emily Ratajkowski and Irina Shayk.

lily-sara-irina.jpg
Image placeholder title

Hannah Ferguson looks lovely as ever. There were about 200 people around her but you could never tell. 

hannah-ferguson_1.jpg
Image placeholder title

Erin talks to a fan at the autograph table. Speaking of Erin, don't forget to vote for the 2015 Rookie of the Year.

erin-heatherton-autograph.jpg
Image placeholder title

Sara has her game face on during a heated Connect Four battle. Then she saw my camera and struck a pose.

sara-sampaio-connect42.jpg
sara-sampaio-connect4.jpg
Image placeholder title

Rose and Chanel catch their breath between autograph sessions.

rose-chanel.jpg
Image placeholder title

Ashley Smith meets a fan. I think they look like a good couple but Ashley insists she's not looking for anything serious right now.

ashley-smith_0.jpg
Image placeholder title

How many SI Swimsuit cover models can fit on one couch? In this case, four (Chrissy, Nina, Hannah, Lily).

cover-models.jpg
Image placeholder title

Samantha and Gigi strike a pose.

hoopes-gigi.jpg
Image placeholder title

First-year model Kelly Rohrbach is very popular among fans.

kelly-rohrbach_0.jpg
Image placeholder title

Kate Bock and Emily Ratajkowski chat inside the tent. Kate makes great faces.

kate-emrata.jpg
Image placeholder title

After the tents closed, the models went into prep mode (hair/makeup) for the launch party at Marquee. Here are some shots from the red carpet.

red-carpet1.jpg
red-carpet2.jpg
red-carpet-3.jpg
Image placeholder title

Marquee was rather dark and not really conducive to photos. Here's my view (from the very back of the room) of the models being introduced on stage.

group-stage.jpg
Image placeholder title

At 9:30, the models left Marquee and boarded a shuttle to Newark Airport. Here's an action shot of Nina, Solveig, Sam and Lily getting off the bus.

nina-agdal-plane.jpg
sloveig-plane.jpg
sam-hoopes-plane.jpg
lily-alridge-plane.jpg
Image placeholder title

Rose, Lily and Hannah arrive in Newark.

rose-bertram.jpg
hannah-ferguson-lily.jpg
Image placeholder title


Hannah and Gigi arrive at the airport in Newark. Forgive them. It's been a long day.

hannah-gigi1.jpg
hannah-gigi2.jpg
hannah-gigi3.jpg

Rose is excited about her chicken on a skewer.

Rose-chicken.jpg
Image placeholder title

At this point, everyone was a little delirious, which is the perfect time for a photo of Rose, Chanel, Sara and Chrissy. 

group.jpg
Image placeholder title

By 10:30, it was time to board the plane. As luck would have it, Genevieve Morton was sitting in the first seat and ready for a photo. 

genevieve-morton_0.jpg
Image placeholder title

I could not be more jealous of Erin and her big plate of skewers. 

erin-plane.jpg

Image placeholder title


Ariel and Hannah are ready for takeoff.

hannah-ariel.jpg
rohrbach-clausen.jpg
chrissy-irina.jpg
solveig.jpg

After midnight (central time), the plane landed, everyone stumbled to the shuttle bus and to the hotel. Everyone was a zombie at this point and ready for bed. I'll be back tomorrow with the Day 3 wrap-up. Until then...


Published
Andy Gray
ANDY GRAY

A senior editor atSI.com, Andy Gray oversees Hot Clicks, Extra Mustard and the Swimsuit site. A Boston sports loyalist and Columbia graduate, he joined SI in 2005.