Celebrity Life
Eileen Gu’s Million-Dollar Brand Collaborations And Endorsements
Eileen Gu is an 18-year-old freestyle skier competing for China at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. On 8 February, she won a gold medal in the women’s freeski big air competition. Six days later, she followed it up with a silver in the women’s ski slopestyle competition.
With two medals in her first Olympics at age 18, Eileen Gu not only entered history books and cemented her name as one of the greatest in her game but also justified the phenomenal popularity she has enjoyed even before her participation in this year’s Games.
Eileen Gu and how she became a magnet for global brands
A multicultural phenomenon
Eileen Gu was born to an American father and a Chinese mother, who was herself a skier. Her multicultural identity has made Gu the perfect candidate for some of the world’s most famous brands.
But those are not the only factors. Gu has been a prodigy since childhood, setting records on the snow like none other before her. Her accomplishment as a skier at a very young age is the reason Gu has been a favourite at the Games.
Initially, she played as an athlete for the US. According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), Gu, who is fluent in Mandarin, decided to play for China after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping at a Winter Olympics preparatory event in 2019.
Her notable medal wins following the decision to represent China include two golds and one bronze at the Winter X Games, where Gu became the first female rookie to participate and win in three disciplines.
Gu also became the first Chinese woman to win multiple golds at the 2021 FIS Snowboard and Freeski World Championships in Aspen.
In 2020, she became the youngest athlete at age 17 to be featured in Forbes ‘30 under 30’.
Evidently, her popularity in China skyrocketed. Her Weibo account has around 5 million followers. To young Chinese, Gu is a powerful inspiration.
For Gu, her shared American and Chinese roots provide an opportunity to be the perfect representative for brands in two of the world’s biggest markets.
Face of acclaimed labels
In 2021, Gu was endorsing 16 brands and the following year, she added seven more labels from the USA and China combined to her portfolio. This is a testimony to her rapidly rising popularity even before this year’s Olympics.
She models for some of the world’s biggest fashion, jewellery and makeup brands, including Estée Lauder, Louis Vuitton, Victoria’s Secret and Tiffany & Co. In China, Gu is the face of major businesses such as China Mobile, Anta, Bank of China, and JD.com.
Gu frequently shares her modelling assignments on her Instagram account, where she now commands a following of more than 1 million — roughly over five times the number in January 2022.
A post from October 2021 shows Gu standing before The Louvre glass pyramid in Paris, France, where she attended the Louis Vuitton SS22 at the Paris Fashion Week. Interestingly, the glass structure is a creation of Chinese-American architect IM Pei.
View this post on Instagram
One of her Instagram posts shows Gu using wellness technology major Therabody’s Theragun on her thigh.
View this post on Instagram
She appeared in the promotion of Louis Vuitton Twist bags in December 2021 and was named the brand ambassador of the Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen the following month.
Gu has appeared for the 2021 Give Me The T campaign of Tiffany & Co. Nearly all her endorsements can be seen on her Instagram page.
Followers can also see numerous posts of Gu gracing the cover of top luxury lifestyle magazines, including Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, In Style China, Cosmopolitan, SuperELLE China and Vogue.
According to market research firm CBNData, Gu earned an estimated USD 31.4 million in 2021. This places her among the highest-earning female athletes in the world. Interestingly, Quartz pointed out that Forbes did not include Gu in its list of the highest-paid female athletes in 2021.
Had she been included, the skier would have ranked third — behind tennis stars Naomi Osaka (USD 57.3 million) and Serena Williams (USD 45.9 million).
Her style is followed by millions in China and world over. Following her gold medal win, her fame is only going to rise.
(Main and Featured images: Eileen Gu/eileen_gu_/Instagram)
The post Eileen Gu’s Million-Dollar Brand Collaborations And Endorsements appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.
Things to Know About Olympic Skier Eileen Gu
Beijing is all geared up to host the 2022 Winter Olympics from 4 February to 20 February. This time, the host country has high hopes from 18-year-old freeskiing champion Eileen Gu. And that’s not all. She is one of the most accomplished teenagers in the game out there.
Born in the US to a Chinese mother and American father, Gu decided to swap her American team to represent China at 15.
From breaking records on the slopes to starring in many international modelling campaigns and even getting offers from top global universities, she has several golden feathers in her hat.
From the Chinaese contingent, Gu is the sportsperson to look out for in big air, halfpipe and slopestyle competitions.
Here’s all you must know about this rising Olympic star
Representing China
View this post on Instagram
Gu announced the major news, in 2019, on her Instagram when she changed her teams for the 2022 Games. Having found her love and passion for freeskiing, Gu decided to represent her mother’s native place.
In her post, she explains, “The opportunity to help inspire millions of young people during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, my mother's birthplace, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to promote the sport I love.”
Freeskiing accolades
Right from the beginning, Gu has proved to be the freeskiing prodigy that she is. Her recent achievement was when she bagged two golds and one bronze at the Winter X Games. She made a record with her unmatched form by becoming the first female rookie to participate and win in three disciplines.
The winning streak continued when she entered the 2021 FIS Snowboard and Freeski World Championships in Aspen to become the first Chinese woman to win multiple golds.
That is not all. Gu wrapped up the year with many records, which include becoming the first woman to stand a Double Cork 1440 on the Stubai Glacier in Austria.
Her winning repertoire is quite long and illustrious. In 2020, she emerged as the freeskiing star in the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) at Lausanne, Switzerland. Gu grabbed golds in halfpipe and big air events, as well as a silver in slopestyle.
Inspired by the 2008 Olympics and her love for promoting this rather male-dominated winter sport, Gu is focused on taking on the slopes for the 2022 biggie. Her mother, an avid skier herself, had taken her on her first ski adventure at the tender age of just three months.
Academic brilliance
View this post on Instagram
Shining not just in sports, Gu excels in academics as well. She has received an offer from the globally renowned Stanford University, her mother’s alma mater. However, the plans of starting school have to wait for the upcoming 2022 Olympic Games.
Having faced negative comments for her American upbringing from the Asian community and championing a male-dominated sport, Gu is a strong advocate of gender equality and representation of women in sports.
Modelling campaigns
Besides dedicating her heart and soul to freeskiing, Gu is also quite the fashionista and has several brand endorsements and modelling assignments to her credit. Already featured in Forbes ‘30 under 30’ in 2020, Gu became the youngest athlete to make it to the list at 17.
Representing several international brands, like Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co, Gucci and Fendi, this athlete is setting major fashion goals with her jaw-dropping style statements. She has contracts with the model agency IMG Models Worldwide and has already graced the cover of Vogue and Chinese Elle. Gu has been invited to the Met Gala and Paris Fashion Week and has her hands full with many new interesting projects in the pipeline.
She also has a strong presence on Instagram with over 215k followers.
(Main and featured image credit: Eileen Gu/ @eileen_gu_/ Instagram)
The post Things to Know About Olympic Skier Eileen Gu appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.
Eileen Gu, Fashion Sensation & Olympian of the Future
Victoria’s Secret Is Ready To Spread Its Wings Again
The VS Collective is the company’s boldest move yet to reposition itself and regain consumer’s trust it has lost in the last few years.
The post Victoria’s Secret Is Ready To Spread Its Wings Again appeared first on LUXUO.