From Football To Fashion: Mary Fowler Wants To Prove You Don’t Have To Be “Just One Thing”

With Mary Fowler set to walk the runway at the L’Oréal Paris Le Défilé show during Paris Fashion Week, the 22-year-old footballer isn’t just making her international modelling debut — she’s making history. The Matildas forward is set to become the first professional footballer and first Australian ambassador to walk the globally-celebrated runway, joining a line-up that includes Kendall Jenner, Jane Fonda, Eva Longoria and Dame Helen Mirren.

For Fowler, the crossover into fashion and beauty might surprise some — but it’s beyond a burgeoning interest. “Ever since I was young, I’ve loved art and fashion,” she tells Refinery29 Australia. “I’ve always enjoyed playing dress-ups, experimenting with makeup, and using style as a way to express myself.” 

Now, the football phenom is using that creative passion to connect with a new generation of sport-loving girls who, like her, are navigating often-confusing identities both on and off the field. “I’ve had my own struggles with self-worth so partnering with L’Oreal to spread messages to girls that they’re enough just the way they are is really meaningful to me,” Fowler added.

Fowler’s walk at Le Défilé, taking place on September 29, is a bold entrance into the global fashion world. “This will be my first time walking a runway, so I am a little nervous,” she admits. “But while it’s a little outside of my comfort zone, the opportunity to walk alongside extraordinary women in a celebration of women’s empowerment, inclusion, and sisterhood is truly inspiring.”

As for who she was most excited to share the runway with? “I’m quite a fan of Viola Davis,” Fowler says. “She’s an incredible actress, but what I most admire in her is how she shows up very authentically to the world and isn’t afraid to speak up for what she believes in. She uses her platform and her voice for good, which is something I hope to emulate as well.”

Mary’s journey alongside the rest of the Matildas has been one of Australia’s most inspiring sporting stories of the decade. When the Women’s FIFA World Cup landed on our shores in 2023, the event broke records and propelled the sport into even the hearts, minds and living rooms of even the most novice football fans in Australia. The Matildas’ semi-final game against England became the most-watched television program in Australian history. The 2023 World Cup saw record-breaking stadium attendance, earnings, and engagement from the public. It catapulted all of the Matildas from sporting figures to national heroes. 

“I’m incredibly proud to represent women in sport,” Fowler tells R29. “And I’m proud to get an opportunity to encourage young girls to dream big because they don’t have to be just one thing.”  

This seems to summarise Fowler to a tee: definitely not “just one thing”. Unafraid to dream big herself, Fowler has continued to use her fame for new ventures, from charity ambassadorships to even penning a book. In November, Fowler is set to release her first memoir, Bloom. “I know I'm only 22 years old so it seems a little early to be writing any kind of life story, but I wanted to create something that potentially would've been helpful for my teenage self to read,” she wrote on Instagram to announce its release. It’s also this desire to make her young self proud that has driven her to Le Défilé.  “I never imagined I’d be walking any runway, let alone one for L’Oréal that’s in Paris of all places. I know little me would be ecstatic to know I’m doing this — she loved beauty and fashion, and she knew how to own the stage.”

And while she’s clearly proud of what this moment means for her personally, Fowler’s even more energised by what it might mean for others. “I want to show little girls who look like me or come from similar backgrounds that they’re enough just the way they are.”