Coco Gauff has always had a clear message for her haters – and she gave it to them when she won her first Grand Slam last year.
After Gauff, 20, won the US Open in September 2023, she thanked those who helped her along the way — including those who brought her down. In her post-victory speech, Gauff said, “Thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me.”
It was a speech that was heard around the world and made everyone listen to the teenage tennis player.
And when it came time for Gauff to design her first collection with American Eagle—a brand she’s modeled and worked with since she was 16—that simple sentence became the focal point of the capsule’s main piece.
Coco Gauff for American Eagle.
JP Yim/Getty
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Her denim collection includes an oversize jacket with a statement printed on the back. Gauff told reporters at a dinner in New York on August 21 that she thought her message was “something that I feel like a lot of people can relate to, especially people around this table who have seen all the internet trolls or most people in their workplace not by believing in them.”
She added that sometimes she will “read things [online] on purpose just to like it, turn me on” and “use it as motivation” to prove the skeptics wrong. The tennis champ even wore a customized version of her sequined jacket to the event to show it off.
The viral message to the haters – which she admitted was partly born out of her tendency to be “petty and opinionated” – was also a bit of a mistake on her part. She said she forgot to thank her parents after a match earlier in the year, and in an attempt to be safe, she thanked everyone on her mental list, the people who it is not believe she made the cut too, because they also keep her going when she needs that extra boost.
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Coco Gauff for American Eagle.
JP Yim/Getty
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Haters aside, Gauff couldn’t be more proud of what she’s created with American Eagle.
“I just love the brand, and being able to do something off the field was really exciting because most of the things I do I do on the field,” Gauff told PEOPLE exclusively about collaborating with American Eagle on this collection. “It was really cool to do something more casual off the court, which I feel represents me because most people only see me as a tennis player, but obviously I’m just like any other 20-year-old girl. I have other interests.”
The American Eagle collection allowed Gauff to tap into her fashion side, and she tells PEOPLE that one of her biggest fashion interests is denim, so this was a perfect match for her. As someone who shopped with the brand long before she started working with them, going behind the scenes of the creation process was “amazing,” she says.
“Some of the things in the collection I didn’t even think I could appear in clothes,” she tells PEOPLE. “They were really great to work with throughout the process, and my favorite piece is definitely the jacket with that sign from the US Open ceremony last year. But I also love the denim corset.”
Her collection also includes a pair of crossover jeans and a pleated miniskirt, as well as two tank tops.
“I’ve always been a jeans girl, so to work with such an iconic denim company is exciting,” says Gauff. “I’m glad to have something that’s truly mine to share with other people.”
Gauff’s American Eagle collection is now available for purchase.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education