18-Year-Old Olympic Gold Medalist Eileen Gu Makes Her Cannes Debut With Louis Vuitton

Eileen Gu is the youngest Olympic champion in freestyle skiing at the young age of 18. She won two gold medals in big air and halfpipe at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Gu made history, competing under the Chinese flag despite her American upbringing.

But her skiing career isn’t the only impressive feat of the teenager. Gu is also a highly coveted model, earning millions from her endorsements and collaborations. And just yesterday, she made her Cannes debut with Louis Vuitton and Vanity Fair.

Eileen Gu in Cannes

Gu attended a formal dinner party hosted after the Cannes Film Festival on May 20. She posted pictures of her time there on Instagram, captioning it, “CANNES not believe I went to France for only 12 hrs…Thank you so much @louisvuitton @vanityfair for having me, there’s nobody else I’d rather have spectacular 10:30pm dinners w 🥰❤️.”

Her attendance at the Vanity Fair X Louis Vuitton dinner party was a bit of a fly-by. However, she certainly made her impression. As an Olympic champion and a prolific fashion icon, Gu compared sports and the sport of dressing.

“Fashion is very much like skiing. It’s highly expressive, and it’s a space that really values individuality, creativity, and freedom, and allows individuals to have the platform and space to express themselves. So even if you think of fashion and skiing as being very disparate, I actually think their core identities are very similar,” she said.

The Olympic champion was only there for about 12 hours. She left quickly to host the Asia Society Southern California benefit in L.A. on Saturday night.

READ MORE: Beijing Olympics Golden Girl Elieen Gu Spotted With Joe Jonas, Emma Stone, and Other Stars at Met Gala 2022

The Olympian’s modeling career

Even before her Beijing victory, Gu had been a popular model and featured in campaigns for brands like Tiffany & Co, Gucci, Fendi, and of course, Louis Vuitton. After she crossed the milestone of absolutely dominating at the games, she became even more popular, especially in China.

We can see her collaborations with popular magazines littered across her Instagram. Her popularity in China has reportedly made her a whopping $42 million in endorsements. All this at the age of just 18, Gu is surely on the trajectory to becoming a supermodel. Perhaps even joining the likes of the Kardashian-Jenner entourage.

Academically, the star is Stanford-bound this year to pursue her higher education. Is there anything she can not do?

DIVE DEEPER: 18-Year-Old Winter Olympian Has a Net Worth Way Bigger Than Legendary Lindsey Vonn and Simone Biles- Here’s How