Former supermodel Christie Brinkley thought her cover girl days of posing in a swimsuit were over at 30.
But when the offer to appear in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated alongside daughters Sailor Brinkley Cook, 18, and Alexa Ray Joel, 31, came along, Christie thought “one last go!” to celebrate her 63rd birthday.
In the spread that’s on sale from February 12 the exquisite trio shows off their model bodies in matching black suits from the gorgeous beaches of Turks and Caicos.
The three-time Sport Illustrated cover girl told interviewers she hoped that the shoot empowers women who feel insecure about ageing.
“In a country that’s very ageist, people love to put you in little boxes,” says Christie, who first posed for Sports Illustrated in 1979.
“Women feel very limited by their numbers. On a personal level, I thought, if I can pull this off, I think it will help redefine those numbers and remove some of the fear of ageing.”
Adds Christie on her Instagram page: “Thank you Sports Illustrated for sending the powerful message that good things come in packages of every size and we do not come with an expiration date!”
The magazine also wrote on its website that the four-times married Christie proved that “age is nothing more than a number”.
Christie posed solo in a number of skimpy two-pieces, including a showstopping red bikini, showing off her age-defying abs.
The daughters also shot separately, Alexa Ray in a number of two-pieces, including a black bikini by Australian brand Zimmermann with floral details on the breasts.
And Sailor showed off her modelling skills — she’s appeared in Town & Country and modelled for Lord & Taylor — in a series of seriously tiny bikinis.
Sailor also expressed her excitement on Instagram: “I’ve had issues with my body image since before I can even remember. I grew up not loving how I looked and felt held back because of it. I don’t know why I always felt that way, sure I had baby fat and definitely went through a plethora of awkward phases, but I had a family that loved me i had friends who made me laugh etc. But for some reason I still looked in the mirror and always somehow found something to pick on. I went from being ‘too fat’ to ‘too thin’ to ‘too muscular’ and I never felt satisfied.”
“My body and I have been through it all. But recently I have been liberated. I am healthy, i treat myself well, and for that i’m happy. I’ve looked in the mirror and been able to LOVE the things about my body that beauty norms deem ‘undesirable’.
“I now have grown to know that my body is worthy of so many great things. I don’t need to be a size 0 to believe in myself. My body carries me each and every day, it loves the people i love, it holds what makes me healthy and strong, it bends it shakes it runs and it CHANGES. That is okay and that is beautiful.”
