The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue has been an annual staple for the magazine since 1964. It depicts gorgeous women in bikinis on beautiful beaches. This year’s issue of the magazine definitely sends a message with three different covers! UFC stunner Ronda Rousey, Size 16 plus sized model Ashley Graham and model Hailey Clauson clad in beautiful bikinis—and body paint for Rousey—along with Sports Illustrated made headlines and history when the covers were revealed.

The modeling industry has always coveted the size 2, sometimes unhealthy image of a woman. In recent years a shift, although not major, has been happening. Plus-size women are being represented in a positive and celebrated way. Ashley Graham has broken a mold by being featured in last year’s issue in a bikini ad and this year by gracing the cover! Graham is a size 14-16 model signed to IMG Worldwide and Ford Models, two of the top modeling agencies in the world! She has been featured on covers and in ad campaigns for some of the biggest name brands in the world and was named to Forbes Magazine’s coveted “30 under 30” list in January 2016. Positive body image is an important topic and Ashley Graham is definitely a great role model for the cause.

Ronda Rousey, the first UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion, sat through a 14-hour body paint session to achieve her cover look. Rousey is representative of a different set of women, athletic and as she put it in a UFC Vlog series, “femininely, badass as —-.” Rousey has been an athlete since a young age. She was encouraged to take up judo by gold-medal winning judoka AnnMaria De Mars, who also happens to be her mother. In 2008, Rousey became the first American to win an Olympic medal in women’s judo since it had become an Olympic sport in 1992. She admits that she was made fun of and bullied in school for her athletic build but, after seeing this behind the scenes video of her shoot, it isn’t even possible to say her body is anything but beautiful.

Hailey Clauson, the gorgeous blonde in this Swimsuit Issue trio is a model who has been the face of a variety of well-known brands, walked the runway for designers like Calvin Klein and Elie Saab and is signed to agencies in multiple cities. Clauson, at 5’11 has legs for days and was a 2015 SI: Swimsuit rookie. There is no doubt, we will be seeing more of  Ms. Clauson on the runways and in the magazines. You can check out her thoughts and emotions on her cover shoot with Sports Illustrated here!

Congratulations to these beautiful ladies and what a blessing to be able to use this platform to aid in re-branding the definition of beauty in our society.