Christie Brinkley's Daughter Sailor Brinkley Cook Follows in Mom's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Footsteps

Veteran supermodel surprised her daughter with the exciting news

By Corinne Heller Sep 27, 2017 2:44 PMTags

Like mother, like daughter.

Veteran supermodel Christie Brinkley's daughter Sailor Brinkley Cook will be featured in the 2018 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, this time on her own. Her mom, 63, appeared in the annual publication nine times since 1975.

Sailor, 19, had last year appeared in a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit photo spread with Christie and sister Alexa Ray Joel, 31. This year, she will be featured by herself as one of the magazine's Rookies. She is its first second generation model.

A video of her mom surprising her with the news was posted on Sports Illustrated's Swim Daily website Wednesday.

photos
Celeb Kids Who Model
Sports Illustrated

"She thinks she's coming here today to do an interview for Fashion Week but she is in for the biggest surprise," Christie says.

"I've come here to give you some really exciting news. You're going to be a Rookie for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit!" she continues.

"No, no, no, no!" Sailor replies. "I'm gonna cry."

She then gets emotional and gives her mom a hug and is presented with a one-piece swimsuit bearing the name "Sailor."

"The mother-daughter thing is like, you're on your own now," Christie told her. "You're out of my sandy footprints and you're on your own."

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Editor MJ Day said that Sailor is "the millennial girl next door."

"She's funny. She's driven. She's smart. She's beautiful. She's interesting," she said. "And most of all, she has a voice and isn't afraid to use it."

"Sailor translates so well off the printed page—she takes beautiful pictures but that's only one of the countless things she's good at," she added. "Much like her mom, she embodies everything it means to be an SI Swimsuit model, but she's doing it in a way that is very much her own."