How Sports Stars Became the New Supermodels

“Show me the money!”, the iconic line from Jerry Maguire, has come to epitomize deals that athletes demand of their sports agents. But that was then. Now, “Show me a luxury brand deal/my own clothing line/front-row seats to Fashion Week” has become the order of the day (though it doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as easily). And the brands have evolved beyond the typical Nike, Adidas, Reebok and Puma contracts. Today, the overlap of high fashion and sports extends to Lvmh sponsoring the 2024 Olympics and Formula 1; the 2025 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race being officially renamed the Chanel J12 Boat Race; Burberry introducing soccer apparel last year; and Prada partnering with the Chinese women’s soccer team for FIFA’s World Cup.

Fashion and sports are now so aligned, the crossover has its own international magazine: Players, founded by Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld and famous stylist-editor (and his mom) Carine Roitfeld.