Damaris Lewis

2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition rookie Damaris Lewis wearing a swimsuit by Pompei Beach.



Damris Lewis in a candid photo for SI at the subway in New York: "It's 11 o'clock in the morning, there aren't many people there, and we went all the way to the end of the platform. It's just Calvin, myself and one other guy, who's standing there, very confused.

"The confusion's just starting. In between trains and waiting for the people to clear out, I take off my dress and we just start taking pictures. Took one sitting down, took one where I'm leaning over the platform to see if a train is coming. Took only a minute. Slipped my dress back on, and we were out of there. I've never had a bathing suit on in the subway, and it was kind of a challenge to see how scared I would be or how much fun I would have. I ended up having so much fun.

"And that guy at the end of the platform? He forgot to get on the next train."



For her SI shoot Damaris Lewis was photographed by Yu Tsai in Cappadocia, Turkey. Here Damaris is wearing a swimsuit by Beach Bunny Swimwear. The sexy model believes that NBA's LeBron James is the sexiest athlete.

SI swimsuit models Damaris Lewis, Lucia Dvorska, Jarah Mariano, Brooklyn Decker, and Esti Ginzburg attend the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Party at LAX on February 12, 2009 in Las Vegas (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated)

Because of her unique looks, people mistake Damaris Lewis for a foreigner: "Somebody asked me the other day, 'What country are you from?' and I said, 'I'm from Brooklyn.' Like, I'm from Coney Island, I was born here."



Damaris Lewis is the face of Yves Saint Laurent's makeup line in Europe. Barely out of high school, Damaris has worked with top fashion photographers like Mario Sorrenti, David Sims, Richard Burbridge, and Solve Sunsbo.



Damaris Lewis was still in school when she got the chance to model and she reasons: "When handed something in life, you should take it, because you never know how it will unfold." Damaris has appeared in advertisements for Benetton, Clarins, Fresh Look Contacts, and Yves Saint Laurent makeup."My first shoot was for Freshlook contacts and it was kind of weird having my first shoot be a beauty shoot where they're right in my face and I didn't know how to move. I mean I was 15 and missing a day of school for it. It turned out really well, but I remember everything about that day."



Damaris Lewis has done fashion shows for Baby Phat (above), Barbara Tfank, Elie Tahari. Despite her fashion success Damaris says, "It's fun but I am definitely going to college."

And the fashion model says that she feels sexy in sweatpants: "I can wear sweatpants and they're long enough -- because sweatpants are never made for my leg length -- and look in the mirror and say my body looks good underneath these sweatpants, there's nothing sexier than that."



The Brooklyn girl is classically trained in dancing since the age of seven. Damaris is a dance major at the world-renowned LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts. The 16-year old was scouted by a model agent from Elite while dancing at a benefit dinner at the Chelsea Piers in New York City. Lewis is 5'9" and has a figure of 34-26-34; people say that she gets fewer fashion shows because of her comparatively curvy figure and prominent bust.




Damaris Lewis has started going to the gym to keep her body in shape: "I always try and stay active and go to gym and eat healthy. I'm also a dancer. As a dancer I used to eat whatever I wanted and burn it off by dancing, but little did I know that all changes when you don't dance five hours a day every day. It's very important as you get older. When you're younger you can eat whatever you want and not look at the calories, but as you get older you realize your body starts to shift with the things you eat."