WNBA star Angel Reese lands Vogue cover
By Jacqui Palumbo, CNN
(CNN) — WNBA player Angel Reese has landed a Vogue cover, posing for a story about how the worlds of fashion and sport have collided. With interviews from Reese, tennis player Frances Tiafoe and Olympic sprinter Gabby Thomas — the last of whom also received a separate cover — the story delves into why fashion brands are tapping athletes as some of their biggest stars.
Though luxury labels have often tapped fashionable athletes in the past for campaigns and on-court collaborations, the relationship has been hypercharged as of late.
NBA, WNBA and NFL “tunnel walks” have turned arenas into highly anticipated runways and, in turn, athletes have made debuts on actual runways, with Olympians Noah Lyles and Jordan Chiles making their debuts for New York Fashion Week in the fall.
That week saw plenty of athletic influence, from Willy Chavarria’s collaboration with Adidas to Tory Burch’s melding of sportswear and ready-to-wear, while the events also coincided with the US Open, bringing an extra dose of fashion courtside as guests pinged between the two schedules.
For Reese, who earned the nickname “Bayou Barbie” for her glam looks during Louisiana State University games, “It’s always been both: basketball and fashion,” she told Vogue.
The All-Star forward, who is gearing up for her second season with the Chicago Sky this spring, recalled to the magazine how she’s been a “fashion girlie” since she was young.
“I was always in my mom’s closet, putting on her stuff. I liked to carry a purse. Hair done. I wanted to look put together. I still do,” she said.
She used to practice her runway walk while watching “America’s Next Top Model,” she added, and hopes to walk for Paris Fashion Week at some point.
For Vogue, Reese appeared in a ruched red Versace dress, photographed by Norman Jean Roy. The basketball star shared the cover on her X account and Instagram stories shortly after publication, writing “I ‘covered up’ and gave y’all COVERGIRL” — a response to online criticism she received last week after posting videos of an ultra-low neckline animal print dress she wore for New Year’s Eve. “Show up as yourself even if it makes other(s) uncomfortable,” she wrote in a separate post.
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