Who is Martha Stewart? American lifestyle icon who became oldest cover model for Sports Illustrated at 81

Martha Stewart, 81, became the oldest cover model for Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit edition. The American businesswoman, TV personality and cook is one of the four cover models for the 2023 issue. The other models are Megan Fox, Brooks Nader and Kim Petras. This year's issue aims to celebrate powerful women who 'live in a world where they feel no limitations, internally or externally.' In an interview, Martha Stewart commented about the cover. She said, "I don't think about age very much, but I thought that this is kind of historic and that I better look really good."

Ruven Afanador photographed Martha Stewart in the Dominican Republic. She became the oldest woman to ever pose for Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue, surpassing Elon Musk's mother, Maye Musk, who posed in 2022 when she was 74. Sports Illustrated has also deemed Martha as the OG of influencers.

Here's everything you need to know about Martha Stewart, a lifestyle icon, fraudster, jailbird, and now oldest Sports Illustrated bikini model.

Martha Stewart's early life, modelling career & marriage

Martha Stewart hails from a small, single-family in Nutley, New Jersey. As Stewart comes from a humble background, she adapted to cooking, sewing, and gardening. Later, Stewart embraced these chores as hobbies. She began modelling in high school for upscale department stores in New York City. She also appeared in many TV commercials and fashion magazines. In 1961, Glamour magazine named Martha Stewart to the list of 'America's 10 Best-Dressed College Students.' She married Andrew Stuart, a student at Yale Law School. She graduated from Barnard in 1963 and continued to model in New York while her husband established his law career.

Martha Stewart's journey from trading to cooking

After Stewart's daughter was born in 1965, she halted her modelling career and pursued her interest in Wall Street trading. However, in 1973, Stewart abandoned high finance due to the economic downturn. In the mid-1970s, Stewart taught cooking classes at her home and took small catering jobs. Later, she co-founded the Uncatered Affair with Norman Collier. Her lofty standards and meticulous attention to detail were the key to her success. However, they also incurred significant personal costs, including the breakup of her marriage in 1989. She parted ways with Collier and became the manager of Market Basket, a gourmet food court in a small Westport shopping mall. Later, Martha Stewart developed her catering business, Martha Stewart Inc.

Martha Stewart's Rise & Fall

Martha Stewart had her television programme, daily radio show, website, and syndicated newspaper columns.Martha Stewart Livingwas a hit in the late 90s. She became invincible and excellent at everything she touched. However, Stewart came under federal investigation for insider stock training because of the suspicious sale of nearly four thousand shares of ImClone stocks on December 27, 2001. On March 5 2004, she was sentenced to five months in prison, followed by five months of house arrest.

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