2012 SI Swimsuit

[superRDF]

Well, I'm underwhelmed. In the instance of full disclosure, I have not viewed every single photo yet, but I'm nearly through, and some patterns are making themselves abundantly clear.

1. No Brooklyn. Now, granted, we knew Brooklyn wasn't making an appearance this year going in, but the more of the issue I see the more obvious her absence is. I know Brooklyn tends to polarize people, but she brings the much needed fun and personality--along with a carefree sexiness--that SI truly demands of its successful models.

2. Bar's shots are awful. Like most of you, I had high hopes for Bar's return. The results of the shoots are lackluster and are the most blatant examples of the sins SI has committed this year. Instead of the youthful and fun Bar, we got looks of boredom and general disinterest. Bar is not the only source of blame, SI can claim ownership of the least inspirational backdrop they could imagine: a studio with portrait backdrop and lighting, coupled with a premise that didn't work when it was musicians and continues to flop with athletes.

3. Body paint has lost its foundation. SISwim was developed as an excuse to put beautiful models in bikinis during the winter months, and body paint was an excuse to get them out of those bikinis. Beyond the base joy of implied nudity, there as a certain magic in the idea of using a medium like paint to replicate the look of a bikini. SI needs to remember what made the idea so compelling to begin with, and it wasn't athletes (or WAGs), and it wasn't shooting in a studio. SI needs to realize that photoshop--especially excessive photoshop--ruins the "trick" of body painting. The hand is so heavy they might as well forgo the paint all together and just photoshop the bikinis on in post. As for the athletes this year: Natalie Coughlin is a cute young woman who looks about 40 in her shots, and SI made Natalie Gulbis look like a pornstar.

4. Photoshop from hell. Is this really the best SI can do? With their budget? All texture has been obliterated from the girls' skin: they may as well be plastic. And if I see another nippleless wonder I'm going to throw up. SI needs to decide on their stance on nudity, sheer and otherwise, and then they need to shoot with that in mind. If they don't want to show nipples they shouldn't be shooting in see-through clothing. The compromise leads to mediocrity: photos that are ruined because SI wants the sexiness of sheer without the taboo of the female nipple. I mean, can someone tell me who thinks the halo on this photo looks good? http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012_swim...e-vawer_11.html

5. The cover is trash. And not because of Kate. I'm not exactly Kate's biggest fan, and there are a handful of girls I would have rather seen receive the honor, but they all would have looked equally horrible if Kate's cover is any indication. Kate is a voluptuous girl, and they somehow managed to pull all visual indicators of depth out of the photo. It looks like a shot of an over-photoshopped cardboard cutout.

6. All the shots look the same. (With notable exceptions.) Now, I get that SISwim is a brand and therefore there exists some nebulous idea of the perfect SI shot, much as one would say about VS. The problem, however, is that the pursuit of this perfect image results in poor copy after poor copy. Why bother with multiple photographers when the results can hardly be distinguished? I don't know if the fault lies with the photographers for trying to shoot in SI's style, or the selection process, in which "non-SI" shots get weeded out, but I could hazard a guess that the latter plays a huge role.

7. Stunted creativity. There is an instance in one of the behind the scenes videos of Anne V completely nude on the beach, covering her back end with a butt-shaped coconut. The resulting shots are no where to be seen. Instead Anne V is featured in centered shot after centered shot, in bikini A, bikini B, bikini C... Now implied nudity on a beach isn't exactly groundbreaking, but at least it would have been a break from the monotony. And then there are shots like Irina and the cheetahs. How does Irina sitting next to an animal, restrained fear on her face, make for good images? She's barely modeling in the shots, probably because she's too worried about moving or taking her eyes off of the wild animals. A frozen Irina next to a frozen cheetah does not make for a dynamic image--I imagine the only reason they saw the light of day is because shooting the cats was expensive and time consuming--and it's that lazy gimmick that seems to be taking over SI. Instead of focusing on making the models more engaging, they bring in an athlete, or a musician, or an animal, or photoshop the crap out of a bored looking model.

8. Thank god for video, but...The videos are really the saving grace of the issue at this point, probably because the awful post-work group can't get their hands on them, but even they suffered a decline this year. I get the point of the "Intimate" videos they introduced last year--SI is taking the same step towards video editorial that the fashion world is--but, with select exceptions, most of them are less engaging than the behind-the-scenes footage. And it seems that SI is phasing out true behind-the-scenes footage of the shoots. While we used to get at least 2-3 solid minutes of each model in from of the camera, this year we've been relegated to little more than a minute of that. The "Profile" videos play out like the "Intimate" videos--that is, the model prancing in front of the video camera rather than posing for the photographer--spliced with an interview, and the "Outtakes" videos are more focused on the crew playing games than the model or the photographer.

9. Thank god for Nina. I started this point as "Thank god for rookies," but while writing it I realized I was really only writing about Nina. In a magazine that has offered little for their returning models to be excited about, Nina is a youthful and playful addition. Her range isn't exactly staggering, but I'll take smiles over disinterest any day. There are other standouts, of course. Alyssa, for instance, is bringing that sultriness that we used to get from Irina, and Kate, when she doesn't venture into caricature--really more of an issue in her videos than photos--is at least able to deliver a coy sex appeal.

10. The short of it: improving SISwim. A light, restrained hand when it comes to photoshop (SI is about natural beauty). No studio shots (SI is about natural light and exotic environments). No athletes, musicians, WAGs, etc. (SISwim is often criticized as having nothing to do with sports, but that is exactly how the issue was envisioned. It was meant as a reprieve, and injecting athletes into it is inorganic to the premise). A variation in shots (SISwim is not a catalogue).

Sorry for the novel, but the more I explored my feelings of disappointment, the more they seemed to become a general annoyance with the direction in which SISwim is heading.

great post i'd have to agree with most of the points. 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9

i don't get why they feel the need to photoshop so much these are sexy models, what exactly is there to photoshop anyway?

[frenchkiki]

story from the nytimes - we arent the only ones that are surprised by the cover...

Model Struts Path to Stardom Not on Runway, but on YouTube

By GUY TREBAY

There was a time, not long ago, when the surest path to modeling stardom was down the runway of a top designer’s show, when it would have been unthinkable to find among the industry’s top ranks a swimsuit girl whose main claims to fame were ad campaigns for Guess jeans and Beach Bunny Swimwear.

But that was before social media altered the paths to fame.

Unlike the many little-known beauties now on view at New York Fashion Week — women seldom identified by more than one name (Agata, Hanaa, Frida, Joan) — Kate Upton, just 19 and resembling a 1950s pinup, but with the legs of a W.N.B.A. point guard, has arrived on the scene as a largely self-created Internet phenomenon.

It is not just that she has a respectable Twitter following (170,000 people at last count), or a YouTube video with over 3 million viewers, or marketing potential perhaps best measured by her rocketing from obscurity to No. 2 on a list of the world’s 99 “top” women compiled by AskMen.com, an online magazine with 15 million readers. (Sofia Vergara, of the ABC sitcom “Modern Family,” is No. 1.)

Less than a year after Ms. Upton, curvaceous and rambunctious, posted a video of herself at a Los Angeles Clippers game doing the Dougie, a dance popularized in a hip-hop tune by Cali Swag District, she finds herself in one of the most coveted positions in the modeling business.

Joining an elite club of modeling powerhouses — brand names like Cheryl Tiegs, Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum — Ms. Upton was announced Monday night on David Letterman’s show as the latest cover girl for Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue, the circulation and advertising behemoth that has long been equally the dream book of adolescent males and the bane of feminists.

In modeling, as in movies (see: “Chronicle,” the film that hit No. 1 at the box office this month after relying on social media outlets like Twitter and YouTube for its marketing), music (the band Fun. and its inescapable viral hit “We Are Young”) and most other cultural endeavors, it is increasingly clear that there is no longer a single path to success.

“We all know that social media now creates its own reality,” said Wayne Sterling, the publisher of Models.com, an industry Web site. “If you become a YouTube star among teenagers, you have even more recognizability than a TV star,” he said. “Kate Upton is the perfect example of that.”

It was soon after the Dougie video went viral that a seasoned scout, David Cunningham, brought Ms. Upton to the attention of Ivan Bart of IMG Models, the company behind the multimillion-dollar careers of women like Gisele Bündchen, Ms. Klum and Kate Moss.

“When Kate first came in, everyone at the agency thought I was crazy,” Mr. Bart, the “superagent” who heads IMG Models, said of Ms. Upton. “She wasn’t ‘fashion’ enough.”

Mr. Bart signed her anyway. And soon, to the surprise of some in the industry, Ms. Upton was being sought out for editorial sittings with people like Carine Roitfeld, the French fashion eminence known for her prophetic eye, and by Katie Grand, the influential stylist and editor of the fashion-forward British magazine Love.

Wholesomely proportioned at 5 feet 11 inches with a 36-25-34 figure, Ms. Upton was a long way from the coolly robotic Eastern European beauty ideal that has dominated the catwalks for many seasons. “Kate is bigger than fashion,” Mr. Bart said. “She’s the Jayne Mansfield of the Internet.”

Though the catwalks of New York, Paris and Milan, traditionally a pathway to magazine covers and the lavish cosmetic and fragrance advertising campaigns that are the grail of every modeling hopeful, will continue to exert influence, it is increasingly difficult for the industry to ignore the world outside the Fashion Week tents, particularly the one that is virtual.

“It’s not just enough to cast such-and-such a girl that opened Prada or Vuitton or whatever,” said Trey Laird, the creative director of Laird & Partners, the advertising agency behind brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Juicy Couture and the Gap. “It’s a huge help if a girl already has a platform and followers, and Kate Upton is a great example of that.”

Those dubious about Ms. Upton’s crossover potential, or of any career driven toward the stony heart of fashion from the do-it-yourself fringes of the blogosphere, include Sophia Neophitou, editor of the English style bible 10 and a creative force behind the casting of the Victoria’s Secret shows.

“We would never use” Ms. Upton for a Victoria’s Secret show, Ms. Neophitou said by telephone last week from London. And, while Ms. Upton has, in fact, modeled on occasion for the company’s catalog, her look, said Ms. Neophitou, is “too obvious” to be featured in what has become the most widely viewed runway show in the world.

“She’s like a Page 3 girl,” Ms. Neophitou said, referring to the scantily clad voluptuous women featured in The Sun, a London tabloid. “She’s like a footballer’s wife, with the too-blond hair and that kind of face that anyone with enough money can go out and buy.”

And yet, Ms. Upton turns up as the hottest new face in the industry in a coming issue of V, a fashion magazine with a cult following among the cognoscenti.

“I wasn’t necessarily drawn to her because of her having been big online and having several million hits on YouTube,” said Stephen Gan, V’s editor in chief and creative director. “In fact, I first heard of her when we were having a party at the Boom Boom Room and Kate Moss’s agent called and said, ‘Can you put Kate Upton on your list?’ ”

Unfamiliar then with the young model, Mr. Gan searched Google and came upon the Dougie video, along with the welter of gossip items that connect Ms. Upton to celebrities like Kanye West and the New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez. Tabloid readiness aside, he saw in her something a less seasoned fashion eye might overlook.

“I come from a business where the perennial question is ‘Are you beautiful in a fashion sense or in a beauty pageant sense or beautiful-girl-next-door sense?’ ” Mr. Gan said. “And I feel like, why can’t we try to find something that’s a little bit different? If you’ve ever looked at pictures of Jean Harlow up close, she had the same curves as Kate Upton, the same silhouette, and she was the definition of beauty at the time.”

Sitting last week in the Manhattan offices of IMG Models, clad in tight jeans and Christian Louboutin stilettos and with her peroxided hair piled high, Ms. Upton called to mind the dumb blondes of an earlier era, women like Ms. Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe who, as we now know, were not dumb at all.

But unlike the passive beauties of the 1950s, Ms. Upton has a coolly appraising approach to her assets. She also has a big laugh, no shortage of confidence and the habit of cracking her knuckles like a tomboy bombshell.

“For a long time, fashion has been going to celebrities,” she said. “Celebrities are on the magazine covers, and nobody wanted models. But why not have a model celebrity? Why not a girl who comes with her own following? Social media brings a personality to models. That’s how consumers today decide what to buy.”

“I studied this,” added Ms. Upton, a Michigan native who was raised in Melbourne, Fla., and who began work at 15, spending her first few years toiling in the lucrative but unglamorous salt mines of catalog modeling.

What Ms. Upton learned was that before Ms. Bündchen grew Angel wings and became Mrs. Tom Brady and a business impresario overseeing a multimillion-dollar empire built on the licensing of everything from lingerie to shower shoes, she was just another runway girl from the first wave of then-new Brazilians, a woman routinely informed she would never make it big in high fashion because her figure was too curvy and her nose was too long.

“People told me I couldn’t be fashion, that I’m just an old-fashioned body girl, only good for swimwear,” Ms. Upton said. “But I knew that I could bring back the supermodel.”

“What can I say?” she added. “I’m relatable.”

TFS

U should read the comment about the cover & Kate on TFS

$1 prostitute is one of the nicest!

http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f78/sport...ton-168823.html

[Ophelia_Immortal]

Sadly..I am in agreement, with most of what people say. But I'd never say it so meanly lol

[Vanessa_gxox]

Adaora- gorgeous, such a cute face, love her smile and I love all the red against her skin colour.

Nina- Looks adorable and sexy at the same time, especially love the ones of her with the braids and paddle.

Cintia- Of course I knew they were gnna be gorgeous...love the ones in the grass.

Kate- Not the biggest fan of her by any means but I like some her shots- the cover one is rubbish.

Michelle- Very pretty girl but the shots are boring and standard.

Anne- she bores me , but like some.

Jessica- like some

Irina- LOVE, she looks great and so exotic and sexy

Bar- looking great once again

Chrissy- Not a fan but these photos are stunning actually, much better than last years!

Renn- Beautiful face...boring shots.

Pantanto- what a bombshell, some of these shots are just amazing.

Alyssa- Love this woman, stunning face, sexy body...she is a natural infront of the camera.

Izabel- One of my favourites, love the colours they put her in, gorgeous hair.

Ariel- Just beautiful,I am a fan.

Kirby- She looks like a Bratz doll, her face is so young and stuff....

Julie- ehhh

Gomes- gorgeous, love the one where she is running....very baywatch.

[superRDF]

what a joke. that lady saying Kate's look is too obvious for a VSFS. So apparently women who's curves/best parts are too big aren't right for VS as for tfs, some of their points are right but they are really rude about it <_< everyone has their own opinion though

[Prettyphile]

We would never use” Ms. Upton for a Victoria’s Secret show, Ms. Neophitou said by telephone last week from London. And, while Ms. Upton has, in fact, modeled on occasion for the company’s catalog, her look, said Ms. Neophitou, is “too obvious” to be featured in what has become the most widely viewed runway show in the world

. . . and now we know the people at VS are fucking retarded on a level not quite seen in a long time.

I thought the idea of VS was to SELL LINGERIE TO A GROUP OF "OBVIOUS PEOPLE". . . yanno the "obvious" person shopping in the malls, walking down the the street with their dog, hanging out in their suburban homes . . . those obvious people who are giving CBS it's views each year.

So Kate's "obvious" but Adriana isn't? Um... ok... whatever you say.

So in short VS likes woman who either looks like dudes, are high fashion worthy, just plain odd looking, skinny as can be and only have a figure when they're photoshopped into having one (go go VS bra that adds to cup sizes), annoying personalities and aren't "obvious" i.e relate-able to the AVERAGE JOE on the street . . . ok I get it . . .

^ VS clearly the foremost authority on what sexy is and what people want right?

[ngolf]

Yea, so in the 12 hours since the release of SI 2012, we have learned that both SI and VS are being run poorly.

Both need new people to turn them around :trout:

Poor casting and poor production have really brought them down. Their productions have been surpassed by others with much smaller budgets-- Esquire's Meinmyplace, Aerie Lingerie, La Perla, many photogs Vimeos....

[superRDF]

also this might address the issue of why we don't get so many big name models that do both SI and VS anymore, like Heidi and Tyra. You basically have someone who, while she isn't a VS spokeswoman she still is somewhat significant in the company, insulting SI's cover model and calling her a page 3 girl.

[happycanadian2]

OMG the photography SUCKS. this James Macari guy is TERRIBLE. the pictures have zero creativity to them. he's working with incredibly beautiful women with astonishing bodies and every pic looks like something out of a cheap swimsuit catalogue. where's the photography??! SO cheap and lazy it's unbelievable.

the positives -- Kate Upton is going to be the biggest star SI has had since Marisa Miller. i guarantee it. american men are obsessed with breasts, and clearly she's rocking some MAJOR CLEAVAGE. lol. and she's tanned and blonde and really beautiful. i've never seen her interviewed, but if she's clever and has a great personality, she can have a very big career.

Adaora is spectacular. what an incredible face and body. she's everything this magazine could dream of. i think the sky is the limit for this girl. i hope she's got great representation that try and get her into other formats, because as a black woman, she's got (sadly) a limited amount of available work, so the competition is fierce. but this girl is an absolute discovery! i am loving her.

[Liora Loyola]

Kate- it was a flop and way too much photoshop. Her cover was awful because her bikini bottom looks like it was about to slip off her ass. I only saw one picture I like and that's bad for a cover girl.

Nina- She tried too hard. I only saw one good photo.

Adaora- you guys may not favor a lot of black girls, this one is a knock- out. Amazing body (ass) and all. Best rookie hands down.

Cintia- I was disappointed. Her poses looked forced and she looked bored.

Michelle- they gave her the best locations. She's alright.

Anne V- her looks screams cover of the year, but no. I like the fact that she gave more than one pose. Overall good.

Jessica P- flop.

Irina- gorgeous woman, horrible pics of her and wrong locations for her photo shoot. I only thought 2 pics looked ok. Disappointing.

Bar- wonderful comeback! Probably the best of them all.

Chrissy- im shock. She actually did a great job this year.

Chrystal- go back to high fashion, girl!

Genevieve- After bar she comes second. Everything about her photos screams SI.

Alyssa- Beautiful woman, alright pics.

Izabel- same as last years nothing new to me. The pics are ok but forgettable.

Ariel- nothing about her stands out. NEXT!

kirby- Boring. They could had at least made her show some a** shots to be interesting.

Julie- meh.

Jessica G- She hot. I like some of her pics. Other are the same and didn't stand out.

Overall this issue isn't better than last years. Only Bar, Genevieve and Adaora stood out.

[phenobarbie]

o.0 I think I'm going to disagree with almost everything in the post above ... and gonna end there

[ILUVAdrianaLima]

does anyone else think the level of photoshop on some of this is a travesty? seems like an injustice to the models to me. not that I care for the barbie pictures, but when is SI gonna use some hq pictures instead of those tiny things?

Even though many have mentioned this over and over. I finally started to view all the pics and can't say i was expecting that level oh photo editing :yuckky: A real put off to what are gorgeous women already. I think KiKi is right, they might as well just use life size dolls if they want to complete the look. SI !!! these girls don't need modern day photo editing, they have modern day beauty !!!

[frenchkiki]

I love that cat so so much!

And VS.... Pfff... who really care what they think?

in what has become the most widely viewed runway show in the world

Hello! Is America THE WORLD?? Because the show is viewed only on America's TV.

Most of the rest of the world doesn't give a damn!

[Prettyphile]

btw Pheno is scanning the images with a and ruler and flat surface so they're straight as can be. If the images look off kilter then start looking at SI. The actual images in the magazine are printed crooked

[frenchkiki]

Sadly..I am in agreement, with most of what people say. But I'd never say it so meanly lol

u know people on TFS... they peepee Chanel perfume and they poopoo Vogue pages.

I also agree on few things but no need to attack Kate like this. It's just a swim magazine after all.

[Ophelia_Immortal]

Sadly..I am in agreement, with most of what people say. But I'd never say it so meanly lol

u know people on TFS... they peepee Chanel perfume and they poopoo Vogue pages.

I also agree on few things but no need to attack Kate like this. It's just a swim magazine after all.

I don't mean about Kate...I'm ambivalent towards her.

I was speaking about the photoshop and how crappy the mag has gotten lately. Nothing to do with the models really.

[MarVS]

THANK U SO MUCH FOR THIS Prettyphile and PhenoBarbie

[mbinebri]

Not that I'm saying Izabel should have got the cover... but that pic of her from behind in post #818 would have been a vastly better cover than the one SI chose.

[jcpsr]

Worst SI photos of Jessica Gomes.

She caved in and lost weight to please the fashionheads in SI

The photoshopping and airbrushing on all the models is terrible.

[siniko]

Kate would be great on GGW