Veronica Pomeʻe becomes Sports Illustrated’s first Polynesian model
She highlighted how the publication never featured models who were from the exotic locations they usually shot in.
Miami based Veronica Pomeʻe’s parents were born in the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific. She has now become Sports Illustrated’s first polynesian model after challenging casting standards.
Armed with determination and the knowledge that Sports Illustrated (SI) had never featured a Polynesian woman like herself in its famed annual edition, Veronica Pomeʻe auditioned for SI’s swimsuit model search with the aim of putting her birthland on the map.
According to Huffington Post, Pomeʻe questioned the panel during a casting call in Miami which saw thousands of models show up to battle it out for one of 16 open spots.
“I remember my interview telling [Sports Illustrated senior editor Darcy Braun]: You guys travel to all these beautiful, exotic, tropical locations” to photograph swimsuit models, Pomeʻe said.
“What better way [to honour that] than to feature someone who’s actually from there?”
An entire year later, she is finally seeing the fruits of her labour take shape as the SI issue featuring her photos hit newsstands this past week.
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Now that the world gets to see the issue, Pomeʻe said she was only just coming to terms with the magnitude of what she had done.
“When people in Tonga found out I made the top six, everyone in the village was going crazy. I’m now representing the entire South Pacific and even our extended families,” she told the publication.
Moving forward, she has decided to use her platform to raise awareness around important issues affecting Pacific island nations. Issues such as climate change as well as confidence and self-esteem in young people.
Pomeʻe finds herself in the company of models such as Ashley Graham, who became the first plus-size model featured on the magazine’s cover in 2016, and Hunter McGrady, who was once declared the curviest woman ever featured in the swimsuit issue by People magazine.
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(Compiled by Kaunda Selisho)
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