<P> The swimsuit issue was invented by Sports Illustrated editor Andre Laguerre to fill the winter months , a typically slow point in the sporting calendar . He asked fashion reporter Jule Campbell to go on a shoot to fill space , including the cover , with a beautiful model . The first issue , released in 1964 , entailed a cover featuring Babette March and a five - page layout . Campbell soon became a powerful figure in modeling and molded the issue into a media phenomenon by featuring `` bigger and healthier '' California women and printing the names of the models with their photos , beginning a new supermodel era . In the 1950s , a few women appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated , but the 1964 issue is considered to be the beginning of the current format known as the Swimsuit Issue . In 1997 , Tyra Banks was the first black woman on the cover . Since 1997 , the swimsuit issue has been a stand - alone edition , separate from the regular weekly magazine . </P>
<P> The swimsuit issue was invented by Sports Illustrated editor Andre Laguerre to fill the winter months , a typically slow point in the sporting calendar . He asked fashion reporter Jule Campbell to go on a shoot to fill space , including the cover , with a beautiful model . The first issue , released in 1964 , entailed a cover featuring Babette March and a five - page layout . Campbell soon became a powerful figure in modeling and molded the issue into a media phenomenon by featuring `` bigger and healthier '' California women and printing the names of the models with their photos , beginning a new supermodel era . In the 1950s , a few women appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated , but the 1964 issue is considered to be the beginning of the current format known as the Swimsuit Issue . In 1997 , Tyra Banks was the first black woman on the cover . Since 1997 , the swimsuit issue has been a stand - alone edition , separate from the regular weekly magazine . </P>
what year was the first sports illustrated swimsuit edition
what year was the first sports illustrated swimsuit edition
1964
1964