Style Edit: Chanel’s CC League empowers women athletes on and off the field
The initiative promotes confidence and camaraderie among sportswomen including Hong Kong’s Cindy Cheung and Janelle Leung
Staying true to Gabrielle Chanel’s love of sport and her belief that physical freedom and self-expression are essential in a woman’s life, the CC League is a two-year mentorship programme that treats beauty as a source of power.
“To me, being feminine means being free,” says Hong Kong swimmer Cindy Cheung Sum-yuet, 20, one of the youngest athletes in the League. At 16, she became the city’s youngest swimmer to compete internationally, qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Games at which her role model Siobhan Haughey clinched her third and fourth Olympic medals, taking bronze in the women’s 100m and 200m freestyle.
“For women, I think something as simple as showing up in a one-piece swimsuit already represents progress from the past,” she adds, alluding to the long history of restrictive dress codes for women in sport.
Sitting beside her, Hong Kong fencer Janelle Leung nods in agreement, adding, “For me it’s also about embracing your uniqueness.” The 21-year-old was Hong Kong’s first junior female fencer to win gold in both individual and team fencing at the 2022 Asian Junior and Cadet Championships.
Cheung and Leung are joined in the CC League by Mexican diver Gaby Agúndez, French pole vaulter Marie-Julie Bonnin, French Paralympic cyclist Heïdi Gaugain, South Korean short track speed skater Gilli Kim and South Korean climber Jain Kim. Guiding them is mentor Renee Montgomery, former WNBA player and now vice-president and co-owner of the Atlanta Dream.
Over the past year, trips to Paris and Nice have brought the athletes together in person, with days moving between beauty workshops, coaching sessions and conversations. For Hong Kong’s Cheung and Leung – the two youngest members of the cohort – the bonds built with fellow athletes and their shared time in the CC League have proved invaluable.
Leung was five when she first picked up a foil, after stumbling across a fencing class in a shopping centre and insisting on trying it herself. By 13, she had joined the Hong Kong fencing team, and in 2022, she debuted at the Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships, taking gold in both the junior foil individual and junior foil team events. She continued to rise through the ranks, but it was only last June that she finally decided to commit to becoming a full-time athlete, a choice she credits in part to the CC League and its mentor, Montgomery.
