Sports stars who have become successful in the Fashion Industry
By Christina Padula
Whether it be due to the success and fame of sporting stars or perhaps their professional ability and physical strength, men have always been known to aspire to be just like their sporting heroes. As a result, many designer labels cleverly select a variety of sporting greats to model their designs. Over the years we have seen Mark Webber for Prada, Roger Federer for Rolex, Tiger Woods for Tag Heuer, Andy Roddick for Lacoste, Harry Kewell for Politix, Cristiano Ronaldo for Emporio Armani and most recently the New York Yankees for DKNY.
Sporting stars, however, haven’t only endorsed labels. Many have actually created them.
Fred Perry for example was actually an English born tennis and table-tennis player in the 1930’s. In fact, he was the world’s number one seed for five years. In the late 1940’s Perry invented the sweatband. He then went on to popularise the polo shirt. Only a few years later, the international menswear fashion label Fred Perry was born. The company is now owned by a Japanese corporation and is best known for the laurel logo which appears on the left breast of the polo shirt.
Basketball player Chuck Taylor adopted the Converse ‘high-top’ shoe in the 1920’s. The shoes are now incredibly famous and are known today as Chuck’s.
In December 2004 tennis star Serena Williams teamed up with Blue Intimates and released her clothing line ANERES. Williams who has been known to be a savvy shopper, has even spoken out about her love for Bettina Liano jeans. Prior to her tennis career, Williams attended the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and launched a lingerie and clothing line, selecting the fabrics and creating the designs.
More recently, AFL player Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin teamed up with the boys from Australian fashion label Kiss Chacey and Sushi Radio. In 2010, the boys launched fashion label NENA & PASADENA. The label features casual street wear at an affordable price point.
LA Galaxy mid-fielder David Beckham is another sporting great who has launched a label. Beckham and wife Victoria launched DVM that in 2007 made the power couple more than £2.5million. The lifestyle brand features sunglasses, denim collections and men’s and women’s fragrances. The label can be found in Fred Segal, Henri Bendel’s and Kitson in the US. But it doesn’t stop there. In April 2011, David Beckham announced his soon-to-be released child clothing label with Snoop Dogg. Although there is no word on the release date as yet, the label is said to be called ‘Fly’. In late May 2011, the footballer, who modelled for Armani in 2008, announced his underwear line ‘bodywear’.
Whilst many sporting stars have made their name in sport, many have gone on to make their earnings in the fashion industry.
