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The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition cover went to model Kate Upton, whose star has been rising since she became a YouTube sensation for her "Dougie" moves last April. Of course, Upton's amazing good looks and dangerous curves do not hurt, either. The model is almost as well-known for her measurements (36-25-34) now as she is for that "Dougie."
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It is no surprise Upton nabbed the SI Swimsuit Edition cover. The model has been on fire lately, booking campaigns with Beach Bunny Swimwear, Guess? and Jenna Leigh lingerie; getting picked for big gigs like IMG's New York Fashion Week ribbon-cutting and the Daytona 500 Grand Marshal; and even igniting romance-rumors with professional football players (ahem, Mark Sanchez, ahem).
What is surprising is the newcomer's potential to change the entire face of of the fashion industry. Now that's sexy.
Kate Upton, So "Not Fashion"
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Kate Upton was born in Michigan and bred in Florida. The blonde beauty, who is also an accomplished equestrian, was discovered by a modeling scout after a horse show in her teens. In 2008, Upton attended an open-call in Miami and, at just 16-years-old, was signed by Elite Model Management that very same day.
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Eventually, the 5-foot, 11-inch stunner moved to New York and caught the attention of IMG scout David Cunningham. When Cunningham brought Upton to the attention of IMG "super agent" Ivan Bart, it was anything but love-at-first-sight.
IMG represents the likes of Gisele Bundchen, Kate Moss and Heidi Klum - multi-million dollar models with size-0 frames. "When Kate first came in, everyone at the agency thought I was crazy," Bart told The New York Times. "She wasn't 'fashion' enough." But, he signed Upton anyway. The rest, as they say, is history.
"Kate is bigger than fashion," Bart said. "She's the Jayne Mansfield of the Internet."
Others agree with Bart's assessment that Upton does not fit into any particular category in the modeling/fashion world today. "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?'" Stephen Gan, V magazine's editor in chief, told the NY Times. "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."
Is Buxom Back?
With Kate Upton scoring the SI Swimsuit Edition cover, all signs point to a new trend emerging in the fashion world. The 19-year-old is famous because of (and, to some, in spite of) her curves, going against the grain of 6-foot, waifish models who eat nothing but miso soup.
"She's not your typical model," a friend of Upton's told The New York Post. "She will eat anything. She's not assuming. She's not into herself. She's not very affected."
"I never deprive myself. If I'm craving something once a week, then I'll go have it," Upton said Tuesday night at an event in Chelsea. "Ice cream or whatever, I just eat the foods I like."
Upton is one of numerous A-listers gaining popularity for their voluptuous physique. Christina Hendricks of "Mad Man" is known for her ample assets, which she personally adores. "I hope I'm not encouraging [breast augmentation]. If there's anything to be learned from me it's that I'm learning to celebrate what I was born with, even though it's sometimes been inconvenient. Having larger breasts has made it harder for me to shop throughout the years, but I've learned to love it. It's so bizarre that people are constantly asking if my breasts are real or fake," she told The Daily Mail's You magazine. "They're so obviously real that anyone who's ever seen or touched a breast would know."
