One of the most exciting things about the growth of women’s sports is how it’s changing views on femininity. More than ever, women are being celebrated for their strength, their power, their courage and their athleticism. Seven in 10 people now watch women’s sports – over half of fans only began doing so in the last few years – and while there remains a long way to go on things like equal pay and playing conditions, the new wave of athletes is driving change for all.
The determination and excellence of these women is celebrated in a new campaign by Guess. Marking the launch of its spring/summer 2025 collection, itself filled with a dynamic, kinetic energy, the campaign features six star athletes: Italian sprinter Dalia Kaddari, French climber Oriane Bertone, Polish fencer Angelika Wator, Spanish pole vaulter Clara Fernández, German gymnast Darja Varfolomeev, and British sprinter Daryll Neita.
Below, the six women share what femininity means to them as athletes, while wearing the new Guess collection.
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Daryll Neita
London-born Neita is the second-fastest British woman in history, a title she earned in 2022 when she ran 100m in 10.9 seconds, just a hair off Dina Asher-Smith’s record of 10.83 seconds. She’s also a three-time Olympic medallist, having won bronze medals in Rio and Tokyo, and a silver in Paris for the 4x100m relay.
‘It’s very powerful to use one’s femininity in sports,’ says Neita. ‘You can be feminine, but also strong and bold in your sport, all at the same time. I think more and more people are genuinely appreciating and taking an interest in seeing us women succeed and show strength as we do.’
Dalia Kaddari
An Italian sprinter who won gold at the 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships, Kaddari thinks that sport highlights the duality of femininity.
‘The female body, with all its strength, is capable of expressing power and elegance at the same time,’ she says. ‘I want women to support each other, to celebrate your own success as well as those around you.’
Darja Varfolomeev
German rhythmic gymnast Varfolomeev is the current all-round Olympic and World gold medallist. She says her sport is filled with ‘a lot of strength and femininity. The strength can be described as how easy we make it look to the audience, but it’s really very difficult. You have to combine it all with elegance, because it should look beautiful and effortless’.
Clara Fernández
Fernandez, from Spain, has already won 21 titles in pole vaulting – one for every year she’s been alive. She says her sport ‘mixes power and elegance, because it’s so technical’.
‘I think it’s important for girls, from a young age, to look for little things that make them happy,’ she adds.
Angelika Wator
Wator took up fencing aged 10, in her native Poland, and won her first gold medal aged 21, in 2015. More recently she has juggled her career with motherhood, a ‘risk’ that for her ‘paid off’. She believes that ‘femininity is something we have inside, but it also radiates outwards. In sports, we generally aim to become faster and stronger – building muscles in the process – but in reality, it’s about what we have on the inside, not on the outside.’
Oriane Bertone
At 19 years old, Bertone could rightly be described as a prodigy, having represented France at the Olympics in rock climbing last summer. To female athletes of her generation, she says: ‘The main advice I would give… is to stand your ground, trust your gut, and do what you want to do. You are as capable as any man in whatever sport you choose to do.’
Explore the full collection at Guess.
