SI LifeStyle

Introducing Lauren Chan, 2023 SI Swimsuit Rookie

The Canadian model makes her debut in the magazine next month.

Cara O’Bleness

Lauren Chan

Lauren Chan was photographed by James Macari in the Dominican Republic.

Entrepreneur and former fashion editor Lauren Chan has had an incredible career thus far. She’s worked as a fashion writer for Vogue and Interview, as well as fashion features editor at Glamour. As a model, she’s worked with brands like Christian Siriano and Chanel, and next month, Chan will make her debut in the SI Swimsuit Issue.

Chan’s luxury women’s wear brand, Henning, was recently acquired by Universal Standard, a brand that offers clothing in sizes 00 through 40. She will join the team as head of brand partnerships.

For her first SI Swimsuit photo shoot, Chan worked with photographer James Macari in the Dominican Republic.

She shared that she’s “so excited to be a rookie this year,” and looks forward to sharing her story with magazine readers. As a size-inclusion advocate, Chan noted that she particularly appreciates SI Swimsuit’s focus on diversity.

“We’ve evolved so much and I think that in fashion right now, we can kind of see a little bit of a slide back away from size inclusion,” she stated. “It’s important to remember to keep doing what we do because it’s up to us to keep that top of mind, keep pushing for inclusion, to keep reminding people that they’re not what they look like, so that we don’t get back there because there’s the very real potential to end up that way.”

Chan has valuable experience in so many avenues in fashion, but they all share one common thread: making other people feel appreciated just as they are.

“Whether I do that through being a model and physically representing someone or being a founder and making clothes to fit them and make them feel peak powerful, or as an editor or writer, when I’m able to use long form and really communicate with somebody or on social and actually speak to them, it is all in the same effort of helping those people feel as great as they possibly can,” she said.

Meet Lauren Chan—read the 2023 SI Swimsuit rookie’s full feature profile here.

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Cara O’Bleness

CARA O’BLENESS

Cara is a trending news writer/editor for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. A passionate writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience in print and online media, she loves storytelling and believes that words have the power to change the world. Prior to joining the team, Cara worked as a writer and editor across a number of content verticals, including food, lifestyle, health and wellness, and small business and entrepreneurship. In her free time, Cara loves reading, spending time with her family and making her way through Michigan’s many microbreweries. She is a graduate of Michigan State University's School of Journalism.