ON THE COVER
Swimwear Model Karla Ortiz wades in the emerald green waters of Virginia Key Beach as the tide starts to gently roll in beneath the mid afternoon sun. Karla is a native of Costa Rica and calls the tropical paradise home. She is a model, swimwear designer, TV personality, and a mother of two beautiful children. You can see the rest of her swimwear pictorial feature beginning on page 210.
Above photo and cover by
Photographer John Enot.
@enotphotography
www.enotphotography.com
Hello everyone! I hope this message finds you and your family well. Summer has finally arrived, to which I will take it upon myself to stand up and shout out a resounding and joyful, "YAY!" Spring has been a little lackluster here in the upper Midwest… a lot of cool and dreary rainy days and nights that seemed as if they would never end. But alas, this past week we had record temperatures here in the Detroit area, so I think the sunshine is finally here to stay!
Your humble Editor-in-Chief has been in constant motion since the beginning of the year with projects ranging from enhancing our YouTube and other social media channels, to covering events such as the internationally acclaimed “Art Basel” art festival, Miami Fashion & Swim Weeks, The Sports Illustrated Awards show, and most recently being one of the few publications that covered the making of and launch of Sports Illustrated’s annual swim search contest… as well as the launch of their iconic annual swimwear issue last month at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. I want to send out a special thank you to Sports Illustrated Swim’s Editor-in-Chief, M.J. Day, along with her entire staff for being so hospitable & accommodating. What M.J. and her team have been doing to change the narrative in the fashion & swim industries with regards to beauty standards and inclusion for women has been inspirational and truly ground breaking. I also want to send out a special thank you to Mrs. Maye Musk for her encouraging words and advice when I met her last month in Florida. For someone who has lived it and seen it all, especially as an International fashion model during the golden eras of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, she is like a walking encyclopedia of knowledge. I have also been told that she has a really successful genius for a son who builds electric cars, send rockets into space, and recently put out a bid to buy Twitter! Who knew? (wink wink)
We present to you the 2022 Swimwear Edition of our magazine. Over the past two years we, along with many other businesses and industries, had to adjust and adapt to ever changing conditions as we tried to navigate through these uncharted waters. Many locations that we wanted to travel to produce this issue simply were not open for business. So our team rediscovered parts of the good ole’ USA that turned out to be real winners. I can’t say enough good things about South Florida’s Treasure Coast! The entire region is truly a paradise on Earth with golden beaches, hidden lagoons, and beautiful spirited people who never miss an opportunity to say “good morning” or “hello” to a stranger. Our entire team worked extremely hard this past year and is very proud to present to you, our loyal readers, our 2022 Swimwear Issue! I want to personally thank Wendy Wanner, Tania Caringi, Stephanie Mansour, Lauren France, Isabella Secchi, Farzana, Karla Ortiz, Marielena GQ, The Confessional Showroom of Miami & New York, Nick D’Annunzio and the amazing staff at Taraink in Miami, and everyone else that has helped support my endeavors over the past year. And of course, a special thank you to all of our models and design partners that contributed as well. I hope you enjoy each and every page as much as we enjoyed creating it for you! Creatives are passionate people that put their heart & soul into their work. We hope that our passion and energy help to put warm smiles on your faces as you flip through and enjoy the fruits of our labors.
Cheers and Ciao!
EDITOR'S LETTER
4
John J. Enot