Sports Illustrated model takes to the catwalk while 8 months pregnant

A Sports Illustrated model who went viral in 2018 for breastfeeding on the runway will take to the catwalk again – this time while she’s eight months pregnant. 

Mara Martin told DailyMail.com that she decided to walk in Thursday’s show for swimwear range Lain Snow during Miami Swim Week because she wanted to empower her now five-year-old daughter, Aria. 

Also flaunting her baby bump on a different runway was star golfer Brooks Koepka’s wife Jena Sims who announced last month that she was expecting the couple’s first child. 

In 2018, Martin was hit with a barrage of criticism for breastfeeding Aria on the runway – with critics telling her she was ‘gross’ and it was ‘not appropriate’ for her to be ‘flaunting’ herself feeding her child on a runway meant for ‘hot models.’ 

‘I remember saying in 2018, hopefully these aren’t conversations when [my children] are this age, they’re kind of just a normal thing [to talk about],’ Martin told DailyMail.com this week. 

‘I know the more that we do it, the more that we see it, the more we kind of open the door, pave the way for our future is what we have to do and I’m happy to do it. Hopefully when she’s my age, or in her 20s, that this is just a normal thing and that this is what we do, we celebrate women.’ 

On Thursday evening, Martin and her daughter Aria while the Lain Snow runway in bright blue swimsuits and cowboy boots 

Mara Martin, 37, of Miami Beach, found herself entangled in the web of controversy after walking the runway in 2018 while breastfeeding her daughter Aria, now five. She was faced with those who said it was ‘gross’ and ‘not appropriate’ for the new mom to be ‘flaunting’ herself feeding her child on a runway that was meant for ‘hot models’ 

The Sports Illustrated model, who has been in the industry for over a decade, originally approached Lain Snow owner Becca Ingle about doing something with Aria, as she had seen the brand feature children frequently. 

‘It was really for Aria, it wasn’t for me,’ Martin, who is now 33 weeks pregnant with her second, told DailyMail.com. ‘Aria really loves the spotlight.’ 

Martin said she also wanted to make walk in the show to prove that pregnant women in swimsuits on the catwalk was no longer taboo. 

‘[We should] really be showing all women in different stages, whether that is being pregnant or 50, just all across the board. I think it’s a really great shift to see, because women – and men – want to see themselves out there.’ 

In 2018, Martin walked the runway while breastfeeding because she had no other choice. She and Aria had been there for hours and the model didn’t – and still doesn’t – employ a babysitter and her daughter was hungry. 

Golfer Brooks Koepka’s wife Jena Sims (pictured) also walked pregnant for OneOne’s shows at Miami Swim Week 

Sims, who had a heart on her stomach, announced her pregnancy last month 

‘Because I’m a stay-at-home mom, I didn’t have a babysitter. So I just took her with me to the casting and they wanted to do a “mommy and me” thing – a little bikini for her and one for me,’ Martin said at the time. 

‘At backstage, she got hungry because the show kept pushing back and back. Then the editor of the magazine came over and said: “If you want to take her out there while you’re breastfeeding, I support it.”‘ 

On Tuesday, the soon to be mother-of-two told DailyMail.com: ‘After that runway walk, especially after becoming a mother, I started to realize how empowering we are as creatures really. It’s crazy because I was always working and doing all the things, but after I had my daughter Aria, everything really changed for me. 

Martin is 33 weeks pregnant and is walking in the show to change the taboos of women. ‘I remember saying in 2018, hopefully these aren’t conversations when [my children] are this age, they’re kind of just a normal thing [to talk about],’ Martin told DailyMail.com on Tuesday. ‘Hopefully when she’s my age, or in her 20s, that this is just a normal thing and that this is what we do, we celebrate women’ 

She will be walking for Lain Snow, which is owned by Becca Ingle (left) and named after her daughter. Ingle started the brand because she was told by large companies that a kid-friendly market ‘wouldn’t sell.’ She now features moms, children, and families in all walks of life in her shows and advertisements 

‘My whole perspective of how much we can do as women has change drastically. And that moment really kind of just showed everyone that we can do anything we want to do, whether it’s being a working mom, a stay at home mom, all the things,’ she continued. ‘So I think that’s kind of where we’re headed to in this world.’ 

Ingle, 34, of Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, also agreed that showing women as they are, especially postpartum, is important.

‘I think it is good for normal women to see normal mamas rocking the brand! Not everyone is a model and we need to be realistic with what swimwear really looks like postpartum,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘I want normal people to be in fashion shows and showcasing real life families in the brand.’ 

In 2018, Martin walked the runway while breastfeeding because she had no other choice. Her and Aria had been there for hours and the model didn’t – and still doesn’t – employ a babysitter and her daughter was hungry 

Martin and her daughter walked the runway together on Thursday evening for Lain Snow – a woman-owned, family-centric swimwear brand – five years after their first debut on a runway together

The soon to be mother-of-two (pictured backstage on Thursday) told DailyMail.com on Tuesday: ‘After that runway [2018] walk, especially after becoming a mother, I started to realize how empowering we are as creatures really. It’s crazy because I was always working and doing all the things, but after I had my daughter Aria, everything really changed for me

The duo did the show for Aria, who Martin says ‘really loves the spotlight.’ The model said:  ‘It was really for Aria, it wasn’t for me’ 

‘I was travel blogging for a decade and wearing everyone else’s swimwear brand on our trips! I tried to partner with bigger brands and kept being told kids market wouldn’t sell. I decided to start my own mommy-and-me line that was functional and fashionable for being active with the kids, while giving you that spandex feel,’ she told DailyMail.com. 

Martin and her daughter have been a long-time fans of the brand and said Ingle’s company is ‘great representation’ of what real, working families and mothers look like. 

‘It’s really incredible that I get to walk for her,’ Martin told DailyMail.com. 

As Ingle’s goal is to empower women, Martin reflected on how she felt now versus in 2018. 

‘I think back then I was a little naïve in this sense. I didn’t even really know what I was doing…it wasn’t a planned moment at all, so, I didn’t appreciate my body and all that it could do because I was a new mom and just really surviving,’ she said. 

Martin wants to inspire her daughter Aria to be whoever she wants to and to show that women can have it all 

Martin and her daughter (pictured together with her husband Ryan) will walk the runway together for a second time on Thursday during Miami Swim Week 

‘Now that it’s my second child, I have this appreciation for women and women’s bodies even more. And so this time around it feels even more empowering, to be honest with you, because I have actually kind of experienced motherhood more.

‘And bringing in my second child, it’s been really magical time. So I’m excited to kind of enjoy the moment this time, and actually realize how empowering this is for women.’