Ashley Callingbull to be first Indigenous woman in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit
CTV
Enoch Cree Nation's Ashley Callingbull is the first Indigenous woman to pose in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.
Enoch Cree Nation's Ashley Callingbull is the first Indigenous woman to pose in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.
The annual casting call for models garnered thousands of submissions, Callingbull being one of them, and on International Women's Day it was announced she was one of the 14 women chosen as a finalist in the 2022 SI Swim Search program.
"I found out probably at 6 a.m. while I was lying in bed, not even a week ago and it's just been a whirlwind ever since," she said excitedly from her hotel room in the Dominican Republic.
Callingbull arrived in the Dominican Wednesday and hit the ground running, starting with fittings.
The editor of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, MJ Day, gave her free reign to pick from the hundreds of swimsuits in the fitting room. She said the experience was like a dream come true.
"[MJ's] like 'We're not going to pick for you, it's how you want to represent yourself,'" said Callingbull. "I was like, 'I love that.' So it took me forever."
She's narrowed down her choices to five in preparation for the photo shoot Thursday, where she's not only the first Indigenous woman to participate, but also the only Canadian in this issue of the magazine.
