In case you missed it, here’s what happened this week in women’s fashion, sneakers, sports, pop culture, and more.
Fashion + Streetwear
Aleali May is A Streetwear Barbie
Cold take: Aleali May is one of the best to do it when it comes to collaborations, and not just as a woman. Her style is unmatched, fusing sneakers and fashion and the audiences between the two. This week, Aleali unveiled her partnership with Mattel that immortalizes her in Barbie form. She joins a group of creators partnering with Mattel to recreate some of Mattel’s most popular toys, including Kristopher Kites, Evan Mock, and Blue the Great.
The limited-edition Aleali May x Barbie Doll is inspired by her latest collaboration with Jordan Brand, the AJ14 Low “Fortune.” It comes with relaxed cargo pants, a bright green bodysuit, matching knee-high boots, an oversized tee, and sunglasses.
Her campaign features a 1-of-1 Barbie available for private auction in her signature style with her favorite pieces with no details spared. The outfit is centered around her debut Jumpman sneaker, the AJ1 High “Shadow” complete with the tiny Barbie sneakers and Martine Ali cage bag. Sadly, the Barbie for sale does not come with sneakers.
The Aleali May Barbie opened up for pre-order on December 3 on the Mattel Creations website, retailing for $55 USD.
Deck the Halls with IVY PARK
“Welcome to the HALLS of IVY.”
adidas x IVY PARK does it again with its fifth drop, this time with Natalia Bryant, Ava Phillippe, Deacon Phillippe, James Harden, and Jalen Green alongside a cast of diverse models.
This collection reimagines plaids, houndstooth patterns, and structured tailoring in its signature vibrant color palette. Once again, it caters to an inclusive audience which also extends to kidswear.
One of the highlights for us is Natalia Bryant further diving into her modeling journey and absolutely nailing it in the houndstooth suit. It feels a little foreign seeing her repping adidas given that her late father Kobe Bryant was a Nike athlete for nearly two decades, but we love seeing her shine.
The fifth IVY PARK collection launches exclusively on adidas.com for 24 hours on December 9 and is followed by a wider global launch on December 10.
Sneakers
The adidas Ultraboost 22 Created by Women for Women
Ultraboost continues expanding, as they have revealed the newest addition to the line — the adidas Ultraboost 22, created by women, for women. Curated by an all-women team, the shows were made specifically for the female foot, featuring a refined design for ultimate comfort.
The adidas team did extensive research and gathered insights from 1 million foot scans. By doing so they identified major differences across female instep height, heel anatomy, and gait cycle. They were then able to re-engineer the Ultraboost silhouette to better fit the female foot.
Some of the features on the Ultraboost 22’s include a refined PRIMEKNIT+ upper made with yarn containing 50% Parley Ocean Plastic. This provides a more supportive fit for women. The fit is designed to work in tandem with the heel counter to let the Achilles tendon move freely with a narrower heel, a lower instep, and its unique S-curve heel.
On December 2, the adidas Ultraboost 22 launches in a mauve colorway on the Creators Club app, ahead of its wider release on December 9 in the adidas app, online, and in-store.
COLORSxSTUDIOS Collaboration with New Balance
Known for its minimalist aesthetics, the Berlin-based music platform, COLORSxSTUDIOS, is entering the world of footwear. While doing so, they are teaming up with New Balance, and have designed two minimalist iterations of the 327 shoe.
The new collaboration debuted at the performance space -COLORS A PARIS.
With a unique twist, the new collection uses a monochromatic off-white and black palette to represent a blank and adjustable canvas, all while encouraging self-expression.
The black 327 shoe features contrast stitching across the upper, with a speckled white midsole. The white shoe is completely different and has a harmonic look. Both black and white shoes include red toggle lacing and dubraes.
The COLORSxSTUDIOS x New Balance 327 is available on COLORSxSTUDIOS website. On Dec 4 the shoes will be released on New Balance’s online store, priced at $120 USD.
Sports + Pop Culture
Paige Buckets Signs with Gatorade
Paige Bueckers makes news once again and continues to pave the way for women in sport. She joins an elite athlete roster as the newest member of the Gatorade family. The multi-year partnership makes her the first-ever collegiate athlete with the brand and a demonstration of Gatorade’s commitment to women’s sports.
Bueckers has yet to play on the pro level (officially, at least) but this is her second major deal since the NCAA announced its new NIL guidelines earlier this summer. It’s only a matter of time before a sneaker brand scoops her up, but it’ll have to wait until she goes to the league – UCONN athletes must still wear Nike products in all official team activities and games.
Liz Cambage Joins OnlyFans
This is definitely a first: WNBA star center Liz Cambage creates an OnlyFans account. Cambage is no stranger to sharing more provocative content, as a Savage x Fenty ambassador and having previously posed for Playboy, among her own personal content.
She shares that she had her hesitations, as is natural. There is a looming stigma not only surrounding the OnlyFans platform, but also just being open with your sexuality as a woman outside of your professional life. However, her friends and family were supportive. ‘The amount of money I could be making off OnlyFans is crazy, what am I doing sitting here?’ she said.
We’re curious to see if other athletes will follow her lead and if this will impact future brand partnerships. This also raises a bigger question of how women athletes are compensated for their services as it’s a well-known fact that many WNBA athletes play overseas not just for the love of the game, but because the money is great.
Only time will tell. In the meantime, shoutout to Liz for breaking barriers of her own.
Beauty
Blackpink Lisa named Global Ambassador of Celine Haute Parfumerie
Celine unveiled its newest Global Ambassador of Celine Haute Parfumerie, Blackpink member Lisa. As a refresher for everyone, Celine was appointed to be the muse of the fashion house.
For Lisa, the well-known K-pop rapper, this means she will be adding on to her list with Celine, covering ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, and everything fragrance-related. Fragrances and candles, is the newest addition to Celine.
Hedi Slimane, the Creative Director of Celine, shot a campaign for this announcement. He presented a black and white palette for this campaign, and of course, Lisa wore Celine. Photographs included Lisa and the new PARADE eau de parfum,
Made up of unique elements, the perfume is said to be a “musky, powdery scent” with hints of bergamot, neroli, vetiver, and oakmoss.
Rihanna’s Fenty Perfume is back next week
Yes, you read it right! Rihanna’s Fenty perfume is coming back, just in time for the holidays. This does not come as a shock at all, in August of last year, Rihanna launched her fragrance- Fenty Eau de Parfum- which instantly sold out.
Rihanna’s Fenty line is big in the beauty world and she is known for smelling ‘delicious’. This release comes at the right time for all fans/people that missed out on last year’s fragrance release.
Rihanna had this to say about her fragrance design and inspiration, “I wanted a rich color that really represented all genders from across all walks of life. Brown is my favorite color. Brown is who I am. Brown is what I come from. If I’m going to make a fragrance that represents me, even the body language of the bottle needs to marry that.”
There are so many beautiful elements to the perfume, including hints of magnolia, musk, tangerine, blueberry, Bulgarian rose absolute, geranium, and patchouli.
If you have been waiting for this release, now is your time to get in line. The perfume is set to release on December 6 and is available for international shipping. Just a note to all you Fenty lovers, they are encouraging all fans to sign up to get notified of the drop.
