When Vivian Cheruiyot won the Laureaus
Sportswoman of the Year award in London earlier this week, all eyes were on her
not only for her outstanding accomplishments on the track last year, but on her
evening dress.
The biggest and most prestigious
sports award in the world brought to focus the celebrated winners’ fashion and
dress sense. Case in point, Vivian’s silver evening dress has been subject of
discussion in various celebrity fashion blogs about how it should have matched
her amazing athletic achievements.
That notwithstanding, Cheruiyot
is part of a new breed of athletes who are increasingly keen on projecting a
fashionable image by developing a sense of style as their stars rise. Other
local athletics stars have done so with some even consulting stylists to help
them with dressing so that they can be presentable within current trends.
It is often said that sporting
types aren't the most fashionable people on the planet. Of course, athletes' training schedules do
not always permit them to be at fashion's call. But the problem also stems from
the fact that sports people get too comfortable at their level and feel they
can dress however they want. While some
think they are dressing well and that they have good style, when really
everything they wear is utterly tragic!
Now before I go any further, I
will acknowledge that there are a few athletes out there who do have good
style. And there are many others in sports such as Rugby, Football and
Volleyball that really hold it down when it comes to dressing well.
Why the sudden surge in stylish athletes? One reason: corporate
sponsorships. Sure, fashion and sports have a long history, but their
relationship has grown over the years with big name brands stepping up and
sponsoring or linking with sports stars for marketing purposes. These
formerly distinct realms have collided through their key actors: the athletes,
the designers, the public, and money.
Designers are catching on too, with brands like Kiko Romeo, who now
dress the Kenya Rugby Sevens team, are fuelling the
re-emergence of male sports stars as fashion models and have cottoned on to the
fact that sports stars have lots of fans that will pay to look like them.
More
to the point, it's a relationship that makes sense. All those athletic bodies
honed to perfection and athletic tracks of the world are just like catwalks but
with a lot more Lycra.
This
relationship between style and sports works on another level as well. Sports
stars like Maria Sharapova and David Beckham have changed the face of fashion
within their own worlds and affected street style for millions of consumers
each year. The looks on the court and on the field have changed. Sports
uniforms and the way players present themselves have also undergone distinct
transformations over the years.
Now athletes are trendsetters and icons in their own right--beyond the
court or field and they are embracing fashion more enthusiastically than ever.
So is Kenya’s sports scene in
need of a style icon? Certainly! We need a star that can inspire others with
his or her fashion or sartorial sense. While Kenya has many fantastic athletes,
there hasn’t been an individual whose fashion sense is as celebrated as their
athletic performance.
Now that it is becoming
commonplace for our champion athletes to be invited to gala and award
presentations, it would be great to have some of them dress in designer Kenyan
evening wear to give them identity and showcase pride in being Kenyan.
Despite their various follies,
the line between sports and fashion continues to blur as we approach a new era
of style and sportsmanship and it is increasingly important to make a fashion
statement as well as a sports statement.
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