Danielle Herrington

Danielle Nicole Herrington is an American model best known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She achieved notable recognition when she was featured on the cover of the publication's 2018 edition, becoming the third African-American woman to appear on the cover, following Tyra Banks in 1997 and Beyoncé in 2007.

Herrington was born on May 26, 1993, and came from a working family. She was raised in Compton, California, where she experienced a normal childhood centered around her education. She initially attended Gahr High School in Cerritos, California, but dropped out during her sophomore year to transition to homeschooling, allowing her to focus on her modeling career.

Herrington began envisioning a professional modeling career at the age of eight. With the encouragement of her mother, she enrolled in John Casablancas' modeling school around the age of 10 or 11. She subsequently began modeling at age 13 and later moved to New York City at age 21 to pursue her career opportunities.

In November 2016, Herrington was featured in GQ as an Instagram model on the rise, having already completed work for Victoria's Secret before reaching 10,000 Instagram followers. Four months after relocating to New York City, she booked her first appearance in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue for the 2017 edition. The photoshoot for this edition took place in Fiji and marked her first major professional photoshoot.

Herrington made her runway debut at New York Fashion Week in September 2017 during Philipp Plein's spring show, where she appeared alongside models Irina Shayk and Adriana Lima. She was subsequently selected as the cover model for the 2018 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, which was photographed in the Bahamas. Following her breakthrough, she moved to Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood and returned to the runway for Philipp Plein a second time during its Fall 2018 show.