What Emma Raducanu Thought of Her First Fashion Show

You may be used to seeing British tennis star Emma Raducanu playing on the court—but this week, the pro athlete traded in her sneakers for heels to take in the latest fashions at Paris Fashion Week. While Raducanu has traveled the world for her various tournaments, she admits she has a soft spot for the City of Light. “I love Paris and the food, so I always try to have some good meals,” Raducanu says. “I was only in Paris for a very short time though, so I didn’t have a chance to do too much. I did get around the city a little bit—it’s so pretty!”

Considering this week was Raducanu’s first fashion week ever, she was especially excited to be attending Christian Dior’s spring 2023 presentation. “This was my first show,” she says. “It was really exciting to see all the buzz—and obviously all the different styles and outfits.” This season, designer Maria Grazia Chiuri was inspired by French queen Catherine de Medici, who ruled from 1547 to 1559, and Raducanu was a fan of the theatrics that came along with it. “I loved the whole atmosphere, from the set design to the music to the dancers,” says Raducanu. “It was pretty epic and very cool. The historic Paris theme that still kept modern features worked so well.” Her favorite looks in the new collectsion were the most thematic. “I really liked the looks with the old historic Paris map designs on different skirts and corsets,” she says.

Though she may be a fashion week newbie, Raducanu recognized that she needed a strong look for the front row. For her VIP cameo, she wanted an ensemble that stayed true to her own style, but was just a more heightened version of it. ”I wanted to wear one of Maria Grazia’s signature styles, but also something comfortable,” says Raducanu, “so I chose a skirt and jacket that embodied this.” Specifically, she wore a blue cotton jacket, black knit sweater, and printed cotton skirt from Dior’s fall 2022 collectsion, complete with buckled pumps.

As someone who’s used to dressing for performance on the court, the athlete adds that she often looks for more comfortable clothes when she’s off-duty. “I like to wear something that’s fairly casual and comfortable, such as a knitted jumper and flared jeans,” she says. “But when I have the opportunity to go to events like this, I have fun dressing up a bit more and trying different styles out. I’ve been lucky enough to wear some beautiful dresses from Dior.” When it’s not fashion week, she’ll be sporting some of her go-tos this fall. “I’ll wear a jacket or coat over jumpers with jeans.” she says. “I’ll probably spend a lot of the fall away training in warm weather actually, so it will still be more summer wear.” 

As the tennis season soon comes to an end, the athlete will be squeezing in some final matches before the end of the year. “I’ll be playing tournaments in Czech Republic, Romania, and Mexico the next three weeks,” she says of her schedule. “It was nice that there was a gap in the schedule that allowed me to attend fashion week with Dior—but it’s right back to training and preparing for the next tournament.” 

Below, see some exclusive photos from Raducanu’s Paris Fashion Week.