The Sports Top Fashion Designers Are Into

Although fashion has undoubtedly been cozying up to sports in recent years — sponsoring key tournaments, events and races, and signing up brand ambassadors — some designers prefer to sit on the sidelines.

“Competition, however organized, has always made me uneasy,” says Rick Owens.

While covering the fall 2026 runway shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris, WWD reporters polled a broad cross-section of designers about whether they engage in or follow any sports.

Sometimes there were long, awkward pauses.

“Hmmm, no,” Lazaro Hernandez offers with a burst of laughter, while Jack McCollough, his wingman at Loewe, adds: “We’re not sports people — at all!”

Others confessed a liking to everything from ice dancing and soccer to surfing. Here’s what they had to say:

Stacey Bendet, Alice + Olivia: “I’ve always loved equestrian sports, and even more now that my daughter competes. Riding is this incredible balance of precision, athleticism and style. It’s one of the only sports where performance and beauty feel completely intertwined. I love that combination of strength and elegance!”

Tory Burch: “Tennis has always been my favorite sport. I grew up on a farm in Valley Forge with a red clay court, where my family’s ideal Saturday night out was a competitive match that would last until 1 a.m. It’s a great combination of discipline, movement and pure joy. I love the rhythm of the game, the focus it demands, and the way it clears your head. I have always gravitated toward simple white pieces on the court — the perfect polo with a pleated skirt or a classic piqué dress. That effortless, timeless spirit became the inspiration for our tennis collections.”

Wes Gordon, Carolina Herrera: “I just came back from a weeklong ski trip where our 3- and 4-year-olds discovered skiing for the first time. Seeing their joy and exhilaration on the slopes was pure magic.”

Gabriela Hearst: “I’m very involved with soccer right now. We have to go to London to fit 22 players and a delegation of 70 people. (Hearst is dressing Uruguay’s national team for the FIFA World Cup 2026). Through soccer, I got to work with (art director) Peter Miles, and now he’s one of my closest friends and collaborators. I never spoke so much about soccer in my life. It’s like religion in South America. You don’t have an option.”

Tommy Hilfiger: “Tennis has always been a passion of mine — both playing and watching. I love the excitement, the discipline, the heritage. It’s a sport that blends precision and power, which really resonates with me as a designer. I try to play as often as I can and whenever I’m home, I practice and play with friends. It’s part of my routine — something I genuinely look forward to. Tennis is about focus and rhythm. Every point is a reset — you have to stay present, adjust, and trust your instincts. That mindset is very similar to building a brand or designing a collection. There’s tradition, but there’s also constant evolution.

“It clears my head. Being on the court forces you to disconnect from everything else and concentrate on the moment. It’s competitive, but it’s also meditative. I always walk off the court feeling energized and inspired.”

Rocco Iannone, Ferrari Lifestyle: “I was a classical ballet dancer for six years, but I started boxing two years ago as a way to let off steam and it’s since been very beneficial. I was wary of starting boxing but I found out there are many similarities between the two disciplines in the coordination of the movements. In fact, [successful Ukrainian boxer] Vasiliy Lomachenko studied traditional Ukrainian dance and ballet for years to become a boxer.”

Simon Porte Jacquemus: “I love football (soccer) — the French national team. I’m so excited for the World Cup. I do have the scarf and a lot of the kit already. I love when France is playing all together — it’s beautiful. It creates a moment we are all together, like the Olympic Games or the World Cup, so it’s nice.”

Chemena Kamali, Chloé: “I love watching ice skating. It’s such a bubble, and a ritual as well, with the looks, the hair and makeup, and the movement, and obviously this culture of these highly ambitious young girls that have this dream. I also like going to big tennis matches, like Roland-Garros (The French Open). I love to watch tennis. I think it’s an interesting sport from a psychological perspective as well.”

Norma Kamali: “While I have never been to a basketball game and have only seen the big games partially on TV, I personally discovered how much I love to throw baskets. Visiting a friend years ago who had a basketball net and ball attached to their garage door, I attempted to throw the ball into the net. To my surprise it went into the net. I continued and the amount of times into the net over not making it was shockingly impressing folks who stopped to watch. All I did was throw the ball into the net and wherever it dropped, I then threw the ball from there. I was enjoying the process so much I couldn’t stop even though I was in a deep sweat. To this day I have a basketball net nearby, even in the city (City Park). I bring my one of my favorite basketballs to the courts and get lost in the hypnotic, meditative rhythm of the game I play with the basketball and the net.

“P.S.: I leave my basketball under the net at the beach, so anyone who wants to play can pick up the ball and play.”

David Koma, creative director and founder of David Koma and creative director of Blumarine: “I love Formula 1, but my favorite sport is tennis. It was my father’s dream for me to become a tennis player, so I was professionally trained from age 3 to 12 — until I fully realized that I wanted to be a fashion designer and communicated that very clearly. From that age, I pursued a different career, but my love for the sport stays and is one of the ways to communicate with my father. If you go on holidays with him, you have to play. He doesn’t take no as an answer, and it’s a cute tradition to play with my dad every summer. 

“I’ve been quite lucky, because since the beginning of my fashion career, I’ve been working closely with WTA and dressing quite a lot of tennis players, becoming friends with them, and attending their games. The funny thing is that even though I’ve been playing tennis since I was a child, becoming fully engaged and in love with the sport came through getting to know and attending matches of the players.”

Albert Kriemler, Akris: “I do sports for my health, so I run. This morning, I was on the Champ de Mars (in Paris). I love this. As a spectator, we just had the winter Olympics and I liked the ice dancing. You know, being involved in ballet — I just costumed another ballet for John Neumeier — I really admire the ice dance category. And I mean that French couple (Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron) was something we have never seen before.”

Hun Kim, Karl Lagerfeld: “I used to do a half marathon almost every other week. Not anymore. I like watching football and going to the stadium to watch Ajax Amsterdam. It brings people together. They really dress up (in orange) and the whole city becomes one — the whole country actually.”

Duran Lantink: “I play tennis. I like snowboarding. Is sitting on the couch watching series a sport too? (Laughs.) With tennis, I like competition. With snowboarding, I like the fact that, first of all, it’s beautiful. You’re out, it’s thrill seeking because sometimes you go to certain mountains that you haven’t explored and then you always go on a new path. I like the fastness of snowboarding.”

Glenn Martens, creative director of Diesel and Maison Margiela: “I watch football, especially the World Cup. I’m very pro-Belgian and I lose my voice because I’m very, very scream-y. I usually watch at a bar with all my friends.”

Stella McCartney: “I ride horses all the time, but I’m galloping a lot less just because I’m older and the ground has been very wet in England. There was so much rain in January and February which means there was some soggy soil on my farm, and it’s a little dangerous. Horses have been with me forever. I used to ride with Al [McCartney’s husband Alasdhair Willis], but he’s hung up his riding hat. My daughter Reiley is a huge equestrian, so I’ll ride with her or I’ll ride alone. But then I’m never alone when I’m on my horse.” 

Sean McGirr, McQueen: “I am massively into yoga. I would generally do a lot of yoga in the mornings, before I start work. I’m still perfecting my head stand — I haven’t gotten there yet. But I would say, yoga and Pilates, and then I’m also really into weights. I find when we’re in a really busy period, my real stress reliever is lifting weights. I absolutely love it. I like to be with friends when I do yoga. I don’t really do it by myself. There’s a bunch of us in London who do it together during the week. It’s mostly intense vinyasa, Reformer Pilates, things like this — so, quick. I find I get too bored when it’s yin yoga. It’s not really for me, unfortunately. I can sit in a position for 15 minutes, but then I’ll just fall asleep.”

Camille Miceli, Pucci: “ I do Iyengar yoga every morning when I wake up. It gives me energy and puts me in a good mood! I also enjoy a lot dancing classes with 80’s fever music. I sweat like crazy and detox. To watch, I love ice skating, I used to go a lot with Gilles Dufour who introduced me to it. I enjoy the grace and of course the looks!”

Pierpaolo Piccioli, Balenciaga: “I practice surfing since about four or five years, whenever I can at my place in Nettuno (Italy). I started surfing when I was like 14 and then I stopped because I had a little accident, but I decided it was time to go back. I like that you don’t think: You just have to think about the wave. You have to be there in the moment.”

Alessandro Sartori, Zegna: “I love driving vintage cars, and it is a passion that dates as far back as my childhood and my deep interest in 1950s and 1960s design. My first vintage car was a blue Ford Mustang Fastback 289 from 1965 and I sought that particular car because I had the precise model when I was a child.”

Amy Smilovic, Tibi: “Tennis, because it’s the visual embodiment of grit and elegance.”

Paul Smith: “I swim every morning between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., but I don’t swim very well — nobody taught me. Famously, I do ‘the swan’ when I don’t want to get my hair wet, or I do the backstroke badly when I’m OK about having wet hair. I swim between zero and 25 minutes. Depending on the weather, I also cycle to my ‘Saturday job’ [at the Paul Smith store] on Albemarle Street, where I work in the afternoon. I use a very traditional bike for that ride.” (Smith was an avid cyclist and racer when he was young, and had dreamed of becoming a professional before turning to fashion.)

Sarah Staudinger, Staud: “I grew up in a house where boxing was always on, so I’ve always been drawn to combat sports. I love basketball too, but UFC is probably the sport I’m most obsessed with watching live — it’s completely electric. What I love about UFC and boxing is how technical they are while still being incredibly entertaining. I think people are often surprised by how strong the female fan base around UFC really is. On the participation side, I’m more of a racket-sports person. Lately, I’ve been into padel and pickleball.”

Dries Van Noten: “I walk a lot, and I love swimming, but I prefer to swim in the sea. Luckily enough, we have a house in the south of Italy where the sea is just 16 steps down. That’s ideal. When I’m there I swim five, six times a day, and I love it.”

Vera Wang: “Figure skating. I love it because it’s the only sport, quite frankly, that not only do you have to be an insane athlete…and I mean did you ever try to stand on the ice on a 16th of an inch blade, like a knife, and you’re throwing yourself at 20-30 miles an hour, and you have to jump and spin, and the range of movement and choreography, and you have to do it to music and you have to be costumed and to present. Even gymnastics is nothing compared to skating…. I’m very involved in the International Skating Union and the United States Figure Skating Association.” 

Victor Weinsanto: “I was a ballet dancer from the age of 4 to 17. For me, dance is art and sports is the same. I love watching figure skating, especially ice dancing. I watched the Olympics and the French couple (Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron) delivered such emotional and beautiful performance. I absolutely loved it.”

Christian Wijnants: “I did a lot of gymnastics as a kid. Sometimes if I can’t sleep, I imagine the exercises because I know them almost by heart…. Unfortunately, I don’t really practice a lot of gymnastics anymore, because it’s a sport for young people, but I’m still fascinated by it. I love to watch women’s competitions, and the beam exercise would be my favorite.” 

Yohji Yamamoto: “I was attracted by budo — judo, karate — and was a black belt in both.”

Nicky Zimmermann, Zimmermann: “If you can call this spectating, I recently spent time researching the women’s cricket teams that formed in Australia in the 1920s. I just loved their spirit in forging a path in a traditionally male-dominated arena. My husband and son are cricket fans, so I found a way to weave cricket patches into our fall ‘26 collection as a little shoutout to them, which I found hilarious!”

Antonin Tron, Balmain: “For me, it’s [surfing] not even a sport. It’s a practice, and it’s something that requires a very strong dedication. It goes beyond physical activity. It’s about a connection. Every day I’m checking the weather patterns in the Atlantic to see what’s going on. Sometimes, I disappear. It’s the best drug you can ever get.”