2007 Swimsuit Edition of Sports Illustrated Celebrates Milestones

To honor black history month, Sports Illustrated is recreating a ten-year-old milestone in modeling. Tyra Banks will be donning the very same polka-dot bikini that she wore on the cover a decade ago, to celebrate her anniversary as the first black woman to appear solo on the cover of the magazine. Banks admits that this time will be a little different, since she weighs twenty pounds more today, and that the bikini needed a few modifications.

The 2007 Swimsuit Edition features Beyonce Knowles on the cover, another milestone of sorts, as Knowles is the first nonmodel/nonathlete to grace the cover. The entire edition features a music theme, with swimsuit models posing alongside such stars as Kenny Chesney, Kanye West, and Aerosmith.

Banks has met with some criticism lately for her weight gain after unflattering images of the former model/talk show host in a one-piece bathing suit have recently been circulated on the Internet. Banks, also host of America's Next Top Model, considered dropping several pounds before the photo shoot, but instead decided embracing her new self to be the most empowering course of action. Banks is planning on showcasing the photos on the Monday episode of her talk show.