Cheryl Tiegs has shed her iconicity Sports Illustrated swimsuit on its cover, saying that the footage used was “disposable” and “not my favorite”. The revelation came during the new documentary Beyond the Gaze: Swimwear Edition by Jule Campbell (through People), which tells the story of Campbell, the late SKI editor, who set the ball rolling at the annual swimsuit edition. The doc also goes behind the scenes of the 1978 photo shoot that featured Tiegs in her iconic white mesh swimsuit.
“The white fishnet was a throwaway shot,” Tiegs said of the revealing outfit. Surprisingly, Campbell and photographer Walter Iooss Jr. agreed with the model. Iooss called it “a picture you wouldn't show anyone. It was taken on a miserable afternoon in the middle of nowhere in the Amazon.”
Because of the “terrible light” in the place, Campbell suggested that Tiegs dive into the water. “Because I thought if her skin was glowing, we'd get some highlights,” she explained. “It wasn't like, 'I'm going to check it more than once if the suit is wet,'” Tiegs added.
But regardless of intent, Tiegs felt the decision robbed him of his honesty. “The wetness of the suit made it so transparent,” he said. “It used to be just a bunch of cotton. I think the simplicity of a girl walking down the beach in a bathing suit like that was interesting… It's not my favorite shot.”
However, Iooss believes it was this precise combination that made Tiegs' shot legendary. “It wasn't just that a beautiful woman was on the pages Sports Illustratedhe said. “She was a beautiful woman Sports Illustrated readers felt they knew. Cheryl was crazy Tiegs.”
You can watch it Beyond the Gaze: Swimwear Edition by Jule Campbell online as part of the DOC NYC Film Festival. You can buy tickets here.