For the first time in its 72-year history, the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated featured a woman who wasn’t a model.
At age 74, Maye is the oldest woman to grace the cover of the magazine’s annual issue. She has a message for women everywhere.
“To be a swimsuit model for Sports Illustrated, people would’ve locked me away as a crazy lady,” Musk told the mag.
“I’m very excited that they’ve decided that even older women can wear swimsuits and look great. I think it’s really going to change how women feel when they walk out in their swimsuits.”
.@mayemusk embodies the idea that aging shouldn’t hold you back from pursuing your dreams.
See more from her first #SISwim22 shoot: https://t.co/SSBPPA9bzY pic.twitter.com/zdHSnYA592
— Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) May 16, 2022
Maye is a beautiful woman who has had a variety of different careers and jobs over her lifetime. At age 15 she was the finalist for the 1969 Miss South Africa beauty contest.
Maye’s fellow cover stars include Kim Kardashian, Ciara and Yumi Nu. The 2022 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue will be on newsstands on May 19.
The mother, dietitian, author, fashion model has done so well and she is marveled about the honor and the direction her life has taken as a model who’s amassed more successes over the years.
“Who knew that in my late 60s and 70s, I would be booked because I’m Maye Musk and a model?” she said. “I never thought I would be walking in New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week. I’ve been through the hard times, and now I’m living the life — I mean, I really am,” she added.
Maya’s modeling career began at age 15 while growing up in South Africa, but her career wouldn’t truly take off and around 2010, she covered Time magazine in the nude. And after that she fronted New York magazine wearing a fake pregnancy belly, once again posing in the buff the following year,
She is the oldest CoverGirl ever, and not only has she been a CoverGirl for more than a decade, but she’s walked runways for designers like Dolce & Gabbana and has appeared in campaigns for Tiffany & Co.
The best models are those who have managed to become familiar faces on the front covers of fashion magazines such as Vanity Fair, Vogue Italia, and Elle Canada and Maye is one of them.