High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is published annually by magazine, Sports Illustrated. The cover photograph features fashion models wearing swimwear in exotic locales. All models featured on the cover of the swimsuit issue in the magazine`s history have been women. According to some, the magazine is the arbiter of supermodel succession. The swimsuit issue of the magazine carries advertising that, in 2005 amounted to US$35 million in value. New issues come out around the middle of February or later. First published in 1964, it is credited with making the bikini, invented in 1946, a legitimate piece of apparel. The issue that got the most letters was the 1978 issue. The best selling issue was the 25th Anniversary Issue with Kathy Ireland on the cover in 1989.