Only a month after being named Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year and FIFA’s Best Women’s Player in the World for 2019, Megan Rapinoe is broadening the scope of her work to include high fashion.
Despite having previously shot campaigns for sportswear brands including Nike, the new FW20 advertising campaign for Spanish luxury fashion house LOEWE is something of a new endeavour for the sports star.
“Any chance I get to do something outside of sport, particularly in fashion, I’m all over that,” Rapinoe told CNN Style.
“Particularly in the context of women’s sports, where I feel we’re very boxed in.”
“For me, [fashion] is my way of getting to do and look and express myself exactly the way that I want to,” she said, explaining that when she's playing soccer she's representing her sponsors and has to present in a certain way.
Jonathan Anderson, the creative director of Loewe, said he made the casting decision after hearing Rapinoe speak on the news.
“I watched Megan on the news one morning and what she was saying resonated with me,” he said.
“I think she is an incredible role model.”
While the campaign is certainly a glamorous departure from the world of women's sports, Rapinoe said the fashion world was becoming more inclusive, which can be a good indication for wider society.
“As we start to progress, and our sport becomes more popular and we start to become more successful, you have fashion designers wanting athletes who have become [culturally] significant,” she said. “I think that fashion is a really good indication and case study for the progression of women’s sports.”
