Rabat – The sporting arena is no longer the only place where the world watches its athletes. From tennis courts to Formula 1 paddocks and football stadiums, some of the world’s biggest sports stars have turned their entrances, red-carpet appearances, and personal style into part of the spectacle.
How sport is meeting luxury?
The shift is visible in the growing relationship between sport and luxury fashion, with athletes increasingly appearing in fashion campaigns, working with designers, and building identities that extend far beyond competition.
Few have made that transition as clearly as Serena Williams. The tennis champion became the first athlete to receive the CFDA Fashion Icon Award in 2023, after years of challenging traditional tennis dress codes and developing her own fashion brands, including S by Serena.
For Naomi Osaka, fashion has become another way to tell her story. At the 2026 French Open, she walked onto court in a custom Kevin Germanier creation made partly from her previous tennis garments. At Wimbledon, she arrived in a white creation by Hana Yagi inspired by Japanese ceremonial dress
Charles Leclerc has also moved beyond the traditional image of the racing driver. In 2025, the Ferrari driver collaborated with creative director Rocco Iannone on a limited-edition capsule collection, drawing on Leclerc’s personal wardrobe and making his own move into fashion design.
In football, Kylian Mbappé represents the enormous commercial reach of the modern athlete. His profile now extends across luxury, endorsements and global popular culture, alongside his position as one of football’s most recognisable figures.
The Moroccan way
For Morocco, Achraf Hakimi offers a particularly visible example. His style has increasingly placed him within the fashion world, moving between luxury tailoring, streetwear and high-profile fashion appearances. What links these athletes is not simply access to expensive clothes. Their sporting achievements give fashion something increasingly valuable: attention.
Their clothes are photographed, discussed and shared alongside the performances that made them famous.The athlete, once dressed for the game, has become part of the fashion story itself. And increasingly, the walk to the field is proving almost as important as what happens once they get there.
