Why Fashion Can’t Get Enough of Female Athletes
Serena Williams became the first athlete to win the CFDA Fashion Icon award in 2023, and launched S by Serena in 2018, creating a blueprint for female athlete-entrepreneur-fashionistas in performance wear
Naomi Osaka proved female athletes belong in high fashion, by becoming an official Louis Vuitton ambassador in 2021, showing athletes can partner with luxury brands beyond sportswear
Female athletes drive consumer purchasing: Consumers are more likely to buy from brands partnering with female athletes as influencers due to their carefully curated images, multiple identities, and emotionally invested fan bases
When trying to pull apart the connection between sports and fashion, sometimes it’s impossible to tell who started what. Over time athletes have become famous for reinventing what they wear both on and off the court, and the fashion industry has continually looked to sportswear for inspiration. Recently, at Roland Garros, tennis superstar and fashion icon Naomi Osaka drew criticism for her on court “fashion show.” The exchange sparked many debates, and they seem to center on the following questions: what place does fashion have in sport, and what perhaps place does sport have in fashion?
Following these questions, there’s one that we’re also interested in here at Parity: why are athletes the face of some of the most successful high fashion marketing campaigns?
All of this began a long, long time ago. We could start with the elaborate headpieces worn by Native Americans while playing lacrosse, or the ornate carvings on their sticks. We could start with the rise of rowing fashion (is fashion too generous of a word?) in the 1800s. We could start with tennis, or polo. But it feels like the place where the modern story starts is when we left the ground behind: with Michael Jordan. Jordan’s rise, and the popularity of his shoes made the bridge between fashion and sports a permanent one. Having a pair of Air Jordan’s wasn’t only about basketball: it was about status and a look. It also became about associating with the Jordan brand, and his particular brand of cool.
Since then, athletes became more than athletes: they became someone we looked to for our choices about what we wear, what we buy, how we strut, how we speak. So let’s take a look at some of the female game changers and what they’ve brought to the world where fashion meets sports meets the world.
Despite being a bona fide legend in a sport that is played within sharp lines, it’s impossible to put Serena Williams in a box. Despite recently announcing that she is officially making her long-speculated return to tennis, she is, and has always been, so much more than a tennis player.
Fashion has always been a big part of who Serena has been, ever since she was little and all she wanted to wear was tutus. She also has used fashion over the years to tell a story about who she is and where she’s been. She has never been shy of standing out: “It’s clear that I’m different. I’m a Black girl playing tennis.” In 2023 she became the first athlete to win the prestigious CFDA Fashion Icon award, with the Council of Fashion Designers of America officially recognizing the personal impact Serena has had on the fashion world.
Our favorite Serena Look: It has to be the iconic cat-woman style suit. The fact that it was banned at future French opens? Definitely means that it was too stylish to handle. The suit wasn’t only fashion forward, it was designed to help Serena’s blood continue to circulate after life threatening blood clots. Slicing style and health conscious? I mean, what can’t she do.
What Serena has done for sports fashion: Serena was one of the first female athletes who truly expanded into the fashion world as a business woman. In 2018 she launched S by Serena, a fashion line which made clothes for every body type. Now focused on WYN Beauty, it’s thanks to Serena that there is a blueprint for the female-athlete-fashionista-entrepreneur. She also had countless personalized campaigns with Nike over the years, and opened the door for future female athletes to push the boundaries of what performance-wear looks like.
One of the tennis players who has walked in Serena’s footsteps (and beyond) is Naomi Osaka. Famous for blending tennis and high fashion, Naomi has made the walk-in her runway, preferring to speak more loudly through her clothes than into the mic during press conferences.
While she is universally fabulous, she has had critics who say that her fashion belongs off the court. “There’s a demographic that’s been talking about ‘traditional’ tennis outfits and calling me classless for what I wear,” Osaka wrote. “I don’t do this for them, though; they will never get it, and I don’t want them to. I do this for the people that are like me.”
Our Favorite Naomi Look: It’s so hard to choose just one, but our favorite has to be her iconic jellyfish look, designed by Robert Wun and inspired by her two year old daughter, Shai. True fans will notice the butterfly detail on the hat as an ode to her butterfly moment at the Australian Open in 2021. Is she a real life Disney princess? We honestly wouldn’t be surprised.
What Naomi has done for sports fashion: Like Serena, Naomi has worked with Nike to design her own clothes, and her looks on the court (as detailed above) have been nothing short of transformational. But it’s off the court where Osaka has set herself apart. In 2021, she became an official LV ambassador, with the brand describing her as “perfectly incarnating the Louis Vuitton woman.” Whatever that means, we know it doesn’t mean “athlete.” In partnering with brands like LV, Naomi has proven that female athletes’ partnerships don’t need to be solely about sports, or sportswear. Female athletes can promote brands all the way up to the highest echelons of fashion: they belong everywhere.
Angel Reese is not afraid of the hottest spotlight. I know it’s a theme here, but Angel’s particular brand screams: I am multi faceted. I want the attention on me, on and off the court, and everywhere in between. On the cover of Vogue last year, the quote says it all: “It’s always been both: basketball and fashion.”
What Angel has done for sports fashion: Something I think Angel has unlocked has been sexy. We live in a world that divides strong from beautiful, and Angel has stomped all over that line. From walking the Victoria Secret runway to being the first WNBA player with her very own VS campaign, Angel is not afraid to introduce sex appeal to her brand. This message continues to tell girls (and women!) that there isn’t a right way to be a woman, or a female athlete. If you want to wear pink feathery wings one night and then lead the WNBA in rebounds the next day, then that’s absolutely what you should do.
Our Favorite Angel Look: We know she has been to the Met Gala twice, but let’s just have a moment for this denim dream. The skirt? Flawless. The jacket? So original (and also looks harder to snap into than my toddler’s clothes so go you, girl.) But can we talk about the gloves??? Angel’s stylist Kalyn Rodriguez is not playing around.
There are probably a lot of you who are saying “Olivia who?”, and that’s exactly why I wanted to include her on this list. Olivia may be a smaller name than some of the others listed here, but nothing about her is small. At 6’5”, Ono is not afraid to swap out her sneakers for heels. She absolutely slays the WNBA “tunnel,”despite the fact that the Connecticut Sun runway is basically just a parking garage.
She recently founded Kayelise, a high fashion brand that supports women’s reproductive health by focusing on cervical and ovarian cancer. Working as a professional athlete and a founder and designer may be a lot on our plates, but Olivia makes it seem effortless.
Our Favorite Olivia Look: There are so, so many to choose from, but we have to give the nod to wearing her own line in the tunnel. Look, we don’t know that much about fashion, okay? But the floaty gauzy cape situation says “I’m classy but sexy,” and the feathers everywhere are saying “I’m a basketball player but also an icon.” We love that it’s 1000% impractical and fancy just because!
What Olivia has done for fashion in sports: Olivia makes going to work fabulous. Olivia has shown that every day, day in and day out, is an opportunity to wear something creative, that pushes the limits. She is also not afraid to show some skinnnnn. She has opened the door for athletes who may strut just outside of the spotlight, and let them know that fashion is for everyone.
When people see athletes, they see performance. They see excellence. They see prowess and superiority. It doesn’t take a marketing degree to know that these are qualities that a brand would like for people to associate with them.
Furthermore, fashion is just one example of how female athletes are pushing the boundaries of what it means to be an athlete and an influencer. Whether you’re a small company or an historic fashion house, your consumers will be more likely to purchase from you if you partner with an athlete as your influencer. Female athletes in particular have carefully curated images, and limitless capacity for holding multiple identities. They also have famously dedicated, emotionally invested fan-bases following them on social media, ready to spend dollars where the stars say so.
So let’s celebrate the way female athletes are moving the needle across all industries, and, if you’re waiting on working with a female athlete for a marketing campaign, don’t. Slip on a cute outfit and go make it happen!
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