The day after winning the men’s 100-meter gold medal at the Paris Games, Noah Lyles set a goal not for more titles and records but for something more fashion-focused: a pair of sneakers bearing his own name. “I want my own shoes. I want my own sneakers. I mean it,” he told reporters. He stressed that it wasn’t a sneaker for other athletes to run in, but one with the potential to be as legendary as the Adidas Stan Smith (named after the former U.S. tennis champion) or Nike’s Air Jordan (named after basketball player Michael Jordan).
It’s a testament to how seriously Lyles takes his reputation as a fashion star and world-class runner. Usain Bolt once said, “The most important thing is to run fast, but to run fast and look good is cool.” Now Lyles is reinventing what it means to look good as an athlete. It’s about more than just having the flashiest tracksuit in the lineup: the fashion world is at his feet.
Most athletes fill their Instagram feeds with slightly boring workout updates, but you’d be forgiven for coming to Lyles’ page and assuming you’re looking at the latest fashion influencer’s photos. Last month, he celebrated his birthday with a photoshoot at the Barbican, where he wore a Louis Vuitton T-shirt and had the word “icon” tattooed on his nails. Earlier in the summer, he posed alongside Snoop Dogg, who wore a sleek Gucci x Adidas ensemble with Dr Martens loafers and Fendi sunglasses.
“Noah’s style is a complete reflection of who he is,” says Maya Bruney, the photographer behind the Barbican shoot and founder of Track and Fits, a platform that promotes the synergy between athletics and fashion. “He’s a rule-breaker in fashion, as he is on the runway, he’s very confident and doesn’t care what other people think. He represents this new movement of personal style, painting his nails and doing what he loves, which is quite unusual in a world full of traditionalists.”
While track and field athletes have a long-standing legacy of promoting trainers and sweatpants, it’s rare to see them wearing anything else. That’s where Lyles broke the mold; “I told him, ‘Please don’t wear trainers, be yourself, wear what you really love,’” says Bruney. Lyles happily obliged. “He got some negative messages about the way he dressed, but he overcame that,” adds Bruney.
Indeed, she’s fully embraced her bold, confident approach to fashion, bringing an entirely new element to athletic meets. Since last year, Lyles has been emulating NBA and NFL players and their use of the stadium tunnel as a sort of runway. Working with stylist Kwasi Kessie, Lyles now arrives at competitions not in standard attire but in carefully curated looks from a mix of big-name brands and under-the-radar designers, turning what was once a mundane routine into a fashion moment with viral potential. “Since she started walking, she’s doubled her following. She’s completely elevated her personal brand,” Bruney says.
Elsewhere, Lyles has also challenged our common expectations of athleticism. She’s recently taken to wearing pearls in her hair — an unexpectedly delicate antidote to the power and strength expected of runners at the top of their game. For the premiere of Sprint, the Netflix docuseries she stars in, she wore head-to-toe white in a nod to her penchant for pearls — a look that included a sequined jacket by Amiri, a pearl-embellished Simone Rocha shirt and Bode trousers. For an appearance on the Jimmy Fallon talk show, she opted for a leather jacket by Parisian fashion house Celine, Saint Laurent trousers and a chunky pair of cowboy boots: not your typical running outfit.
“She’s just chic,” Kessie recently told Women’s Wear Daily of her friend and client’s approach to fashion. “What I mean by that is, she’s a [style] “‘I’m going to be a rock star or I’m going to wear streetwear.’ It depends on the purpose of the outfit and the energy she wants to portray. To me, she’s just generally stylish. She doesn’t tick any one box. She has a keen eye for fashion and style.”
Like most athletes at the top, Lyles has already signed endorsement deals with a major sportswear brand (Adidas) and a luxury watchmaker (Omega). But unlike many athletes, he wore an Omega watch in the 100m final and showed off his £13,500 Speedmaster as he raced down the track at the Stade de France. It was a statement of his commitment to bringing his unique showman’s touch to his ambassadorial engagements. But as Lyles noted in his post-race press conference, he wants Olympic gold to open more fashion doors, just as Emma Raducanu’s 2021 US Open victory led to deals with Dior and Tiffany just days after the final.
“Noah Lyles could easily be a very strong brand ambassador for any business after the Olympics. Not just because of his success at the Games and how that will raise his profile, but also because he has a natural charisma that really comes through in social content,” says Sara McCorquodale, founder of influencer intelligence agency Corq. “That’s often missing in luxury. There’s beauty, style and sometimes eccentricity, but there’s not the kind of credible X-factor that Lyles has in buckets. For example, Burberry’s partnership with footballer Son Heung-Min is very interesting, but we don’t really get a sense of his personality through his campaigns. A talent like Lyles is an incredible partner for a luxury brand in the age of TikTok.”
Through his partnership with Kessie, Lyles has created a look that effortlessly blends big design houses with lesser-known brands, which should have huge appeal to luxury houses looking for a cool factor. “I’m sure Lyles will pick whichever brand he wants after the Games, but I’d love to see a big global collaboration with Prada,” says McCorquodale. “It would bring such freshness and relevance and a new perspective on style.”
Could Prada Lyles be next year’s big coach? Watch this space.