How Coco Gauff Became a Fashion Icon

For her first final at Porte d'Auteuil on June 7, Coco Gauff entered the Philippe-Chatrier court wearing a leather biker jacket, her expression both determined and serene. The following two hours and forty minutes against Aryna Sabalenka confirmed this impression: at 21, Gauff was adding a second Grand Slam title to her trophy cabinet after the 2023 US Open. At the end of a suspense-filled match, the current world number 3 embraced her status by quoting a line from star rapper Tyler, the Creator. "If I told you I was riddled with doubt, I lied."

Delving into the wardrobes of athletes is sometimes disappointing, as not everyone is as interested in them as they are in their sport. It's quite the opposite with Coco Gauff. The more you delve into it, the more information abounds. Between her two interests, Coco Gauff has decided not to choose, and it shows. Of course, equipment manufacturers often look for a splash when designing outfits for their stars. With the American, it works, and everything rings true. The openings in the back, the cutout of the skirt, and the trimmed socks seen on the Roland-Garros clay. The immaculate custom-made dress composed of an embroidered corset worn a few weeks later for her only match (lost in two sets against the Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska ) at Wimbledon.

Last week, on the Cincinnati concrete (defeated in the quarter-finals against the Italian Jasmine Paolini), the player opted for pieces with seventies accents (pleated dress, colors) updated (crop top) from the recent collaboration between New Balance and Miu Miu.

In tennis, sometimes bold playing outfits can be a given, but that's often down to the outfitter. Not so with Gauff. The player expresses all her desires at an annual meeting with New Balance called the "Vision Meeting." "I like that my interests can be reflected in my outfits," she said in her post-victory interview in the third round of the last Australian Open.

This is far from being the case for all players on the tour. It would take a clever person to accurately distinguish the styles of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, for example, both Nike ambassadors, whose only differences are a few minor details and colors. The two new giants of the world tour often wear the same polo shirt after their match. Gauff, for her part, puts a lot of herself into her choices. The proof is in this Vanson perfecto (a brand renowned for its biker leathers) or these layerings in the long-sleeved outfit worn during her Parisian quarterfinal against Madison Keys: there's fun, winks, and a point of view.

This is what distinguishes her, once again, from a Sinner, who entered, as we remember, onto the Wimbledon Center Court in 2023 with a monogrammed Gucci bag. Since the Italian hasn't shown any greater interest in clothing since, we're right to think that it was mainly a PR operation on the part of the Italian luxury house. Coco Gauff's approach is more like that of her compatriots Serena Williams and Andre Agassi, who, in their time, had a lot of fun disrupting the codes of a notoriously polite sport.

"She saw Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova as much more than tennis players, but there's a step between seeing it and knowing how to handle it in turn like she does ," enthuses former French player Tatiana Golovin, now a consultant for BeIN Sports.

The American is also one of the few sports figures endorsed by the fashion world. On May 5, she appeared at the prestigious Met Gala, a grand annual gathering organized by Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief (she left her position last June) of the US version of Vogue. The same monthly that, in 2018, dedicated the cover of Teen Vogue to a newly pro and still teenager (15 years old) Coco Gauff, before, six years later, offering her the cover of the "big" Vogue. A rare privilege for a tennis player. The lucky ones can be counted on the fingers of one hand over the last thirty years: Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, and Naomi Osaka.

This recognition is in keeping with the Delray Beach, Florida, native's new marketing dimension. In 2024, Gauff was the highest-earning athlete on the planet, earning nearly $35 million annually, including $25 million in sponsorships. Her contract with New Balance alone, her long-standing sponsor since 2018, reportedly earns her nearly $1 million a year. This was followed by Rolex (since 2019) and American Eagle (2022), which offered her the role of fronting a denim clothing line. Ray Ban joined the fray in 2023.

“The balance she manages to maintain between what interests her off the court and the main thing, tennis, all at such a young age, is extremely rare and shows how special she is.”

Unveiled just before Roland Garros, the collaboration between the Italian house Miu Miu and the American brand New Balance around her name completed this rise to prominence. Initiated around pairs of sneakers two years ago (a huge success), the wedding was enriched with a tennis collection that Gauff helped to imagine. Since 2024, the player has also been the only player on the tour to benefit from a pair of signature sneakers.

As in tennis, the progression is mature, constant, almost irresistible. And fueled by authenticity. When asked about her taste in fashion, which is often the case, Gauff recalls this first memory: the shimmering wardrobe of her mother, Candi, a schoolteacher in Atlanta, in the southern United States known for its sartorial flamboyance. As a teenager, the player swooned over the looks of Disney Channel stars, Zendaya and Coco Jones. "I went all out with crazy layering; I wouldn't be proud of everything today," she said.

In 2019, at the age of fifteen, with the prize money from her first qualifying round for Roland Garros, she bought herself her first luxury bag. A black Louis Vuitton model, which she still wears regularly. A TikToker from the very beginning, comfortable with social media, Coco Gauff is both feet in her time, including in this assumed mix of tennis and fashion. "With other players, talking about style is sometimes an obligation. With her, it's very spontaneous," observes Tatiana Golovin.

As we know, celebrities rarely decide for themselves when it comes to walking the red carpet. Since her first steps in the spotlight in 2019, Coco Gauff has been doing things her own way. "The balance she manages to maintain between what interests her off the court and the main one, tennis, all at such a young age, is extremely rare and it shows how special she is," continues the former French number 2.

Gauff isn't just a fashion fan; she also loves talking about it, which again sets her apart from other big names on the tour. In an interview with the specialist website Fashionista last May, the American defined her style this way: "What I wear on the court is quite different from what I wear in the city. I show more skin. I like to wear bright colors; they always look good on the courts, especially the hard courts [...] In terms of proportions, we're obviously limited by our movements, so I mostly play around with cutouts."

Like at the 2025 Australian Open, where she paraded in an outfit consisting of a white backless swimsuit and a skirt. "I'm a big Marvel fan, and a lot of superheroes have cutouts in their costumes. I wanted my outfit to be inspired by that," she said at the time.

Fashion was discussed again two weeks ago at the opening press conference for the Cincinnati tournament: "I don't know if anyone noticed, but I wore a different outfit for every tournament this year! It's something I'm very proud of," she confided, a bit amused. For her, her debut at the US Open (August 24-September 8) is scheduled for this Monday, against Australian Ajla Tomlanovic. And we won't miss a thing.