Georgina Burke Reflects on SI Swimsuit Debut, Featuring Her Own Swimwear Line

The model wore a bikini from her own clothing line, Burke NYC.

Georgina Burke.John Parra/Getty Images

Georgina Burke’s 2022 SI Swimsuit debut was a rollercoaster of (exciting) emotions. She found out about the photo shoot just 24 hours beforehand, packed up all her belongings immediately and flew to Barbados.

At her rookie feature with photographer Ben Watts, Burke got to model a swimsuit from her own line, Burke NYC. Talk about a full-circle moment!

In 2014, she was the face of Torrid’s swimsuit collection, so Burke knows a thing or two about the struggle of finding the perfect-fitting bikini. The New York City resident spent a few years posing for Polo Ralph Lauren swim as well, and in 2019, she founded her brand with the goal of creating size-friendly and fully adjustable swimwear.

Burke shared a sweet throwback video from last year’s SI Swimsuit photo shoot on TikTok.

“Sports illustrated! Wearing my own brand 😭♥️,” she captioned the post in which she wore a black lace-up bikini top, stringy bottoms and a bright yellow baseball cap.

“Getting to Barbados was a nightmare. I was actually in Montana at the time. I had all my winter clothes, went to New York, took like six COVID tests, packed a summer suitcase, and got out the door the next morning by 6 a.m.,” the Australian model explained, adding that she already knew some of the team and found comfort in that. 

“MJ [Day, SI Swimsuit editor in chief] took the best care of me. She made me feel confident and said I didn’t have to try anything I wasn’t comfortable wearing,” Burke continued. “I feel like a woman of my size doesn’t necessarily get to say what we can and can’t wear because I think it’s like they only have one or two things that will fit us, and you just have to roll with it. Whereas SI had like 82 swimsuits that all fit, luckily.”

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