Sakina Karchaoui becomes the face of Jean Paul Gaultier's La Favorite fragrance

Sakina Karchaoui crosses an unprecedented threshold for a French female footballer: the Paris Saint-Germain and France defender has been named ambassador for the new fragrance La Favorite, signed by Jean Paul Gaultier. The haute couture house thus chose a high-level athlete to embody a product long reserved for professional models and cinema stars.

This collaboration owes little to chance. With more than 1.3 million followers on social media, Karchaoui is today the most-followed French female player online, a visibility that far exceeds the circle of football enthusiasts alone. Her growing popularity makes her a generational figure, capable of carrying a message well beyond the pitch.

The movement is part of a broader trend, where major luxury houses increasingly turn to high-level sport. Last winter, Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly was named ambassador for the Gentleman Givenchy line. Givenchy’s chief executive, Romain Spitzer, justified this choice by highlighting “the pursuit of excellence, the visionary approach, the energy and natural elegance” of the Alpine driver. Last year, Kylian Mbappé became the global face of Dior, following in the footsteps of Zinédine Zidane.

With Karchaoui, female athletes in turn seize this territory of expression. This partnership illustrates a deeper cultural transformation: women’s football is now perceived by prestigious houses as a vector of style and inspiration in its own right, and its representatives as personalities celebrated beyond their sporting results alone.