Tyra Banks Has Changed Her Modeling Name to 'Banx' The model came out of retirement to pose on the cover of the 2019 'Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.' It was the first time she had
worked with the magazine since
being the first African-American model
to pose alone on the cover in 1997. Banks revealed that she replaced the "S" in her
modeling moniker with an "X" because it represents
"rebirth" and "breaking" beauty boundaries. Tyra Banks, to
'Sports Illustrated' Tyra Banks, to
'Sports Illustrated'