Promising Young Woman: From Tiffany to Chanel to Dior, US Open Champion Emma Raducanu is One of Fashion’s New Favorite Faces - Lookbook

The British teen also attended the MET Gala and London Fashion Week in designer digs.

Emma Raducanu is having a fantastic year, and fashion houses are paying attention.

READ ALSO: The Kids Are All Right: In The Youngest Women’s Final In More Than 20 Years, Emma Raducanu Comes Out On Top

After her historic triumph at the US Open last month where she became the first qualifier ever to lift the sterling silver trophy, she cemented her star status in a closely-followed global sport. 

Sport and style

What makes her so marketable and friendly to maisons? Tennis and fashion has been connected for a long time, and has produced a number of names that have been style icons outside of the court. This includes everyone from Chris Evert near the start of the Open Era to Anna Kournikova, the Williams sisters, Martina Hingis, and Mary Pierce in the 1990s to Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki in the early aughts. 

Young upstarts in the sport who can win big titles seem to be a dime a dozen these days, in a time when stability is lacking among the top. Raducanu isn’t the first new grand slam winner in the last few years—she isn’t even the first to win her maiden major in 2021. 

But in her dismantling of both qualifying and main draws in New York—with every single match won in straight sets—the world got to know a bubbly, bright, and well-spoken young woman. As Alaina Demopoulos of The Daily Beast described her, the 18-year-old possesses “a bit of that quiet introspective grace many athletes have. She is not entirely show-y, which makes her a somewhat realistic muse for a generation crushed by COVID, and still trying to figure the world out.”

Those buzzwords, plus the fact that she is multicultural being a Toronto-born Brit with a Romanian father and Chinese mother, all hit the right spot if you’re a brand looking for a relatable ambassador in 2021. And many have started recognizing the British teen’s potential. Just after her epic win, Raducanu made her debut at the Met Gala as a guest of Chanel. 

At the event, she wore a midriff-baring monochrome separates from the French luxury label’s resort collection that she paired with black boots. She finished off her look with diamond earrings from Tiffany & Co., a brand she also favored while playing in New York. 

What’s next

Tiffany also invited her to a party that it co-hosted with British Vogue during London Fashion Week. There she wore clothes by independent London-based label Erdem, and announced that she is now a house ambassador for the jewelry brand. 

Just recently, Raducanu was announced as the new face of Dior, being named as ambassador for the creations of the house’s creative director for women’s collections Maria Grazia Chiuri. She will also front the skincare and makeup creations of Peter Phillips, the brand’s creative and image director for beauty. 

Her introduction to the world as a Dior woman was at the world premiere of the latest James Bond movie No Time to Die. This was held a couple of weeks ago at the Royal Albert Hall in London. She wore a flowing white (slowly becoming her signature color) number from the Dior Cruise 2022 collection. 

What’s next for Raducanu? Many experts apparently predict that she can easily rake in millions in the next few years through more endorsement deals. In an article for The Standard, InterTalent Management chairman Jonathan Shalit said that the teen was a “brand dream,” and estimated that she can earn well over £100 million.

Will she ever reach those heights, or will she crash and burn like so many of the young upstarts before her. Only time will tell. What’s for sure is that the world will be watching.

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