Olympic champion Eileen Gu covers the December 2022 issue of Harper’s Bazaar Singapore. Now age 19 and working with Louis Vuitton on the runway as well as campaigns and events, Gu is styled by Christopher Maul in top luxury brands heavy on Louis Vuitton and also Dior, Tiffany & Co, Givenchy and more. The Stanford student wears Louis Vuitton on the cover for a fashion story ‘Golden Girl’, lensed by London-based, Maltese photographer Stef Galea [IG]./ Makeup by Martina Lattanzi; hair by Tommy Taylor

The fashion shoot took place at The Savoy in London, with an interview by Jeffrey Yan.

Forbes released its highest paid athletes of 2022 list last week, and three Asian women were in the top five: Naomi Osaka, Emma Raducanu and Eileen Gu who held third place after Naomi in the top spot and Serena Williams in second place.

The uber talent has signed on with the US Olympic Committee to represent America in its bids for the 2030 or 2034. Because of all the issues around climate change and melting snow, the decisions for those venues will come later than usual. Milan-Cortina is hosting the 2026 winter olympics.

Gu has remained steadfast in her determination to not discuss nationality, but to rise above the issue after representing China at the 2022 winter games. Many viewed her ‘yes’ to the US Olympic Committee’s request for an ambassador as a way of showing her equal commitment to the USA.

In her interview, Eileen Gu does discuss the ‘under assault’ idea of meritocracy and hard work, which is an extension of the nepo baby fury playing out across fashion and culture.

In AOC’s opinion, because Gu is an athlete versus a fashion model, there is no way she can fake meritocracy as an athlete. The uber talent agrees that she has lived a privileged life, but Stanford is full of young people who have grown up with a heavy emphasis on education and mentoring to create a life strategy.

Similarly, she’s also competing in treacherous feats of skill in sking and she can’t fake that either. AOC describes Eileen Gu as philosophical on this topic.

Eileen Gu has tremendous confidence in herself, which is not to say she doesn’t face self-doubt. She is the true-grit, lots of backbone, young woman AOC holds in high regard. And she has a very healthy relationship with social media — which means she ignores it, along with fools in the viewing stand who may throw out an insult in her direction.