Why Keely Hodgkinson is on course to become fashion’s new ‘It’ girl
This year has been a year dominated by the interaction between sport and fashion. From the “tenniscore” moment of early spring, kickstarted by Zendaya’s red-hot turn in Challengers, to England squad members like Trent Alexander-Arnold sitting front row at Paris Fashion Week and the behemoth of luxury sponsorship at the Olympics, never before have we seen our sports stars and the fashion world being such close bedfellows.
The fashion world’s latest sporting crush? Olympic gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson, who last night took home the Sports Personality of the Year title. She was certainly dressed to impress at the occasion (much like last year’s winner, a David Koma-clad England goalkeeper, Mary Eaps), wearing a custom-made black dress featuring long, sheer glove sleeves and cut-out details on the back. Designed in collaboration between Nike (one of Hodgkinson’s sponsors) and the cult brand KNWLS, it was a project that the 800m runner told The Telegraph earlier this month she was very excited about. Later in the evening she changed into an off-the-shoulder white dress with feather detail, clearly seizing her opportunity to make a sartorial splash.
Following Hodgkinson’s crowning as the year’s most important sport star, it seems inevitable that top fashion brands will start to court the 22-year-old athlete, with “It” girl status imminent. Indeed, in the five months since her Olympic win, Hodgkinson has already started to dip her toe into the fashion world, attending the recent Burberry and Emporio Armani shows (two fashion houses that have long been known for their association with athletes), and presenting an award at the National Television Awards wearing a directional black and blue jumpsuit with train by London Fashion Week stalwart Roksanda. She has also started to work with the stylist Aimee Croysdill, whose clients include Nicola Coughlan and Ellie Bamber.
“At just 22 years old Keely’s cemented herself in the high-end brand space already,” shares Ross Watson, Managing Partner, M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment. “She’s sat on the front row at fashion shows like Burberry and has partnered with Rimmel and Nike, so it’s highly likely she is next in line for fashion’s next big brand partnership.”
Sportsmen and women have a long history of partnering with fashion houses, from Serena Williams to David Beckham, Anna Kournikova to Usain Bolt, with tangible benefits on both sides.
“From a brand point of view, top athletes have a truly global audience,” says Nina Beeston, Director of Partnerships and PR at Wasserman, a sports and media talent agency. “The rise of social media has allowed athletes to grow and nurture highly engaged fan bases worldwide where they can interact and talk to their audiences directly. Partnerships allow brands to leverage access to these new audiences on social media through a trusted voice, where the majority of consumer attention sits today. In fashion, where the price point is high, that trusted voice can be particularly valuable. Sport has the ability to create global cultural moments and provide fans with shared, highly emotive experiences.”
And it’s not just their fan bases that brands want to tap into, but also the qualities that we have come to associate with our most successful athletes. “Discipline, motivation, dedication, elite performance… those are desirable values for a fashion brand to partner with, and it’s no surprise that Gen-Z are 58 per cent more likely to be influenced in purchase intent by an athlete endorsement than an influencer,” explains Beeston. “Top-level athletes are often afforded ‘hero’ status. To tap into that cultural relevance and emotion as a brand can have a truly positive impact on brand awareness, brand loyalty and of course – sales!”
The benefits for athletes too can be enormous – both personally and financially. “Athletes’ careers are short so it’s a two-way-street – they need the exposure to wider audiences with brands that can expose them to new revenue streams and a career outside of sport,” says Watson. “Who athletes partner with can help shape their own personal brand too.”
“Just as fashion brands can benefit from accessing the new audiences of an athlete, athletes too can enjoy access to new audiences and the chance to raise their profile amongst different demographics and in new markets,” adds Beeston. “Given the prestige of the luxury fashion industry, aligning with a fashion brand can have a ‘halo effect’, elevating and amplifying an athlete’s personal brand which will likely lead to additional future commercial opportunities.”
Yet with so much in life though, the fashion and sport relationship can be a fickle one, and it’s true to say that they only love you when you’re winning. Such has become the case for the tennis player Emma Raducanu, who is rumoured to be losing some of her lucrative brand partnerships (which include Tiffany & Co, Dior and Nike) following a dry spell. Raducanu in particular has also suffered a degree of backlash from fans, who think she should be spending more time training, and less time with fashion houses.
But the future, at the moment, looks bright for Hodgkinson. “She’s a brand marketer’s dream,” concludes Watson. “She could be the face of UK athletics for years to come.”
More of Keely’s recent looks
