“I’m going to be like seven feet tall,” laughs Maria Sharapova, hours before Moncler’s Genius extravaganza in London – an immense experiential event that not only saw Alicia Keys perform live, but debuted the brand’s collaborations with leading creatives and labels, including Roc Nation by Jay Z, Pharrell Williams and Salehe Bembury. Her look for the night? “We’re doing a take on the trench coat and the little black dress. It’s slightly inspired by Catherine Deneuve in the ’60s – worn with very high sparkly black heels.”
For her hair and make up, Sharapova kept things simple and pared-back, to offset the sexy patterned hosiery that accompanied her sparkling look. “Just an extra touch of mascara on the eyes,” she explained, “…a little bit of eyeliner.”
Ahead of her fleeting visit from California to take in Moncler’s event – also attended by Hailey and Justin Bieber, Naomi Campbell and Ashley Graham – Sharapova was particularly excited about seeing Rick Owens’s continued collaboration with the iconic outerwear label. Back in 2020 he designed a monochromatic tour bus which rolled up to Moncler’s Genius festival setup in Milan, and for 2023, he created a space-age padded sleep pod. Sharapova’s love for Owens goes way back. “On one of my first trips to Paris as a teenager I went into one of his stores,” she says. “He has these amazing long pants that he makes in different materials and colours which I love because I’m so tall. He’s such a boundary-pusher too.”