Why Athlete Eileen Gu Is Luxury Fashion’s Dream Model

(CNN) — For fans of freestyle skiing and fashion, the buzz surrounding Winter Olympics athlete Eileen Gu at this year’s Games has come as no surprise.

The 18-year-old’s gold-medal performance at the grand aerial competition thrust her into the global spotlight on Tuesday, sparking such a furor in China that the social media platform Weibo collapse. But Gu has spent years establishing herself as a top athlete and highly profitable model who appeals to brands in both Asia and the West.

In 2021, while winning gold medals at the World Ski Championships and the Winter X Games, Gu was also forging lucrative partnerships with fashion houses and luxury brands. She has signed to IMG Models, the agency that represents Bella Hadid, Kate Moss and Hailey Bieber, and signed deals with Louis Vuitton, Victoria’s Secret and Tiffany & Co., as well as Swiss luxury watchmaker IWC and cosmetics brand Estée. Lauder, among others.

In fact, the California-born athlete is among the most sponsored at these Olympics. She arrived in Beijing with more than 20 business partnerships, ranging from Beats by Dre headphones to Cadillac.

But it is Eileen Gu’s mass appeal in China, where she is known by her Chinese name Gu Ailing and has been dubbed the “snow princess,” that makes her especially valuable to brands.

Having changed his sporting allegiance to his mother’s country of origin in 2019, Gu’s fluency in Mandarin has helped secure his spot on Chinese TV ads, billboards, and even milk cartons (like the face of Inner Mongolia-based Mengniu Dairy). E-commerce giant JD.com, coffeehouse chain Luckin Coffee and telecoms firm China Mobile are among the growing list of mainland brands she has modeled for in recent months.

Eileen Gu, a “unique talent”

China is on track to become the world’s largest luxury market by 2025, according to Bain consultancy. The Asian edition of the marketing and advertising industry magazine Campaign estimated that the new sponsorships could earn the athlete about 15 million yuan ($2.5 million) each, and that was before her success. with the gold medal.

According to Bohan Qiu, whose Shanghai-based creative agency Boh Project works with major fashion brands, Gu’s rising popularity in the country comes at a time when nationalist pride in China has seen “the relevance of western celebrities.

“For this generation, a lot of the celebrities here are quite domestically oriented, so (Gu) being half-American, half-Chinese and speaking both languages ​​fluently, he has a very global appeal,” Bohan said by phone, adding that the demographic The country’s Gen Z contains “third culture children” who simultaneously understand Chinese and Western contexts. “She’s definitely a once-in-a-decade kind of talent.”

Gu has combined big-money deals with reporting in reputable magazines and appearances in top-tier fashion shows. She has been seen at events like Paris Fashion Week since 2019, she has since been seen front row at Louis Vuitton and in the notoriously exclusive met galawhere she arrived on the red carpet in a bubble dress by Carolina Herrera.

“The world of fashion has helped to balance my training”, Gu told Hong Kong Vogue, appearing on the cover of the magazine’s July issue. “Just like skiing, modeling requires incredible expression and personality. It requires creativity, confidence, and the ability to learn and adapt… The transition between modeling and skiing became a break and mutual practice that helped me to feel more motivated in each area.

Gu has also graced the cover of the Chinese editions of GQ and Elle. And as a guest editor for Vogue+, Vogue China’s generation Z-focused bi-monthly edition, the athlete recently explored the intricacies of her identity under the theme “code-switching.”

“I wanted to explore and showcase the inherently malleable nature of adolescent identities,” Gu wrote on Instagram“a quality that I have found myself tapping into over and over again by displaying different sides of myself (athlete, model, student, Chinese, American, teenager, writer, public figure, etc.) in different settings. Everyone changes their code and I think it’s time we start celebrating that multifaceted nature.”

Gu, a “safe bet” for brands

Eileen Gu’s social networks are also full of fashion. Whether posting on Instagram or writing to millions of followers on Xiaohongshu and Weibo (the Chinese equivalent of Instagram and Twitter, respectively), their feeds oscillate between sport and style, with track shots posted alongside photos of models and their outfits. latest fashion editorials.

Her unsuspecting approach has helped her connect with young fans, both in China and in the West, who want to see “beyond training, sports, the more official side of things,” Qiu said. “A lot of Chinese celebrities are much more protected by their agent or their representative, or have a difficult time sharing the most real sides of their lives.

Shortly after last Friday’s opening ceremony, Gu posted a “lookbook” of the outfits she had worn at the Games so far. Elsewhere, she has shared messages of support from supermodel Karlie Kloss and a viral video of her team unboxing Chinese sportswear brand Anta for an impromptu fashion show in the olympic village.

“OMG that vest and down jacket give off supermodel vibes,” one user wrote under the latest video on the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin. “The frog princess is so trendy,” read a comment on another video, using another Chinese nickname she gave to Gu because of the green ski helmet she wore as a child. “Encouraging you to be the best in the Winter Olympics.”

Even in the heat of competition, Eileen Gu used her public platform to boost her fashion credentials and promote Chinese culture. Speaking to reporters after qualifying for Monday’s grand air final, she lifted her bib to show cameras a black jacket embroidered with a gold dragon. “This is a garment I designed, with Chinese elements,” she said in Mandarin.

Gu’s rise comes at a time when Western brands often find themselves subject to consumer boycotts for perceived mistakes, from choosing models that they do not conform to chinese beauty standards until print t-shirts which list Hong Kong and Macau as countries, rather than cities. Her refusal to get involved in political matters may reinforce her reputation as a low-risk ambassador.

The skier has kept quiet about the many controversies surrounding China at these Games, including Beijing’s alleged treatment of Xinjiang’s Uyghur population and concerns about tennis star Peng Shuai’s well-being.

“There is no need to be divisive”, recently told The New York Times after saying he would “go over” questions about China. “I think everything I do is about inclusion.”

When asked about Peng at a news conference this week, Gu simply thanked her for coming and expressed gratitude that the tennis player was “happy and healthy and here doing her thing again.” Gu also dodged questions about whether she was forced to lose her US passport, since China does not formally recognize her dual citizenship.

His diplomatic approach echoes that of tennis star Emma Raducanu, who also drew praise from state media and trended on Weibo after winning the US Open last year. (She also has a Chinese mother and has addressed fans on social media in Mandarin.) Since then, Raducanu has signed with the likes of Dior, talent manager Jonathan Shalit, and he told CNN last year that he expected her to earn “over $100 million” in endorsement deals in 2022.

But unlike the tennis star, who continues to represent the UK, Gu’s decision to ski for China makes her an even more profitable name, according to Qiu.

“Sports heroes are definitely the new idols here,” Qiu said, adding, “They are national heroes, which makes them a very safe bet for brands to work with.”

CNN’s Teele Rebane and Lizzy Yee contributed to this story.