Sailor Brinkley Cook Explains Why She Was Comfortable About Sports Illustrated Nude Photo Shoot
Sailor Brinkley Cook had no qualms posing in the nude for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, saying that she felt comfortable because her friends were behind the photoshoot.
Female-Powered Project
Cook likened the photoshoot to an encounter with friends in the girls' locker room, so there was nothing to be shy or uncomfortable about. Likewise, she reasoned that the project was for a good cause, so she felt empowered rather than embarrassed to show her naked body in front of the camera.
"I'm just like 'what's up gals?' It's like we're in the locker room or something accept [sic] we're making something really beautiful and important," Cook told People.
Adding to the ease and comfort was the fact that Cook's friends were behind the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit photoshoot. It was a "female-powered project," meaning no males were present during the entire shoot.
"It was a really beautiful thing because it's a female-powered project so I walked in [to the shoot] and it's my friend Mary doing makeup and my friend Taylor doing the photos and my other friend Robin doing the videos," Cook added.
'In Her Own Words'
The young model stripped down to her birthday suit for the magazine's In Her Own Words project, which the publication described as a "platform that allows the voice, the strength and the passion of these women to be expressed in the rawest form...on the naked body...with all the artistic and creative control left to them."
The 19-year-old model joined other Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models Robyn Lawley, 28, and Paulina Porizkova, 52, bare their skin for the camera. A sneak peak at the photoshoot shows Cook and the other models write down words that reflect their character and have these words drawn on their body. Cook wrote Strong, Lover, Artist, Romantic, and Optimist.
"It was really special to be a part of this and get to express myself in a very raw, uncensored way. Having these words written all over your naked body and having that next level of exposure — I felt sexy obviously but I felt more emotional and it helped me accept myself," Cook says in the video.
Aside from posing in the nude, Christie Brinkley's daughter also used her skills and knowledge in photography and got behind the camera. She documented the photoshoot with behind-the-scenes photos. Cook is a photography student at Parsons School of Design.
This is not the first time that Cook modeled for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She previously caught the media's attention when she posed alongside her mother Christie and sister Alexa Ray last year.
