Twenty-four-year-old Danielle Herrington made history this week when Sports Illustrated announced her as the 2018 SI swimsuit cover model.
“I hope that young girls who look at this cover are inspired to dream as big as I did and work hard to attain all their goals,” she told People Magazine.
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Here are are seven things to know about the model:
She’s from Compton, California.
The 24-year-old Compton native attended private school and told Fox News in an interview that her childhood was "pretty normal."
“A lot of the time after school, we would go to my grandma’s house because my parents were working. We would swim, ride our bikes down the street, we had a trampoline, scooters, everything!” she said.
She’s only the third black woman to appear on the SI swimsuit issue cover.
Herrington joins the ranks of SI cover girls Tyra Banks (1997) and Beyonce (2005), the only other black women to grace the swimsuit issue cover in the magazine’s 54-year history.
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She started modeling around age 13.
Herrington attended John Casablancas’ modeling school when she was around 10 or 11 years old and started modeling at age 13, but remained focused on school until 2015, when she took on a gig for a Seventeen magazine back-to-school bash.
Her portfolio includes some big brands.
According to BuzzFeed, Herrington has modeled for Guess, Juicy Couture and made her New York Fashion Week debut by walking in Philip Plein's Spring 2017 show.
This isn’t Herrington’s first rodeo with Sports Illustrated.
The model was part of the Sports Illustrated Swim 2017 Rookie Class, which she described as "a dream come true." Editor MJ Day called Herrington a "natural brand ambassador." Past rookies have included Kate Upton and Chrissy Teigen.
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She always looked up to Tyra Banks.
“I just remember Tyra Banks being on the cover and that’s where it all started for me. That’s what really made me pursue modeling,” Herrington told Fox News.
Banks even revealed Herrington’s cover to her as a surprise.
If she wasn’t modeling, she’d be studying child psychology.
In an interview with GQ, Herrington said she studied psychology and was always interested in how the mind works. If she weren't a model, she would be interested in becoming a child psychiatrist.
