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We didn’t think it was possible to love Olympic diver Tom Daley more. After sweeping gold in the synchronised diving last week, the British native shared a message of solidarity for his fellow LGBTIQ athletes. “I hope that any young LGBTIQ person out there can see that no matter how alone you think you are, you are not alone. And that you can achieve anything,” he said.
Then at the weekend, the 27-year-old was spotted knitting a purple dog jumper in the stands as he cheered on the female divers. A day later Daley was seen creating a ‘Team GBR’ jumper. But it turns out that the craft is not just a hobby for the athlete. He has an entire, carefully curated, Instagram page dedicated to his knitting. Amongst the colourful sweaters, children’s clothing and diving briefs (yes, really, feast your eyes here), Daley recreated a Gucci crochet dress using “leftover yarn”.
The wool halterneck mini dress is from the Gucci Pre Fall 2020 collection and retails for $2,700 USD on Net-A-Porter. While we don’t normally condone knock-off designs we’re going to call this ‘artful appropriation’. But really, Daley, are you taking orders?
According to the diver, he began knitting during lockdown to help him relax. “I started knitting at the beginning of lockdown and have been obsessed ever since,” he wrote on Instagram. “I have started to crochet now also!”
Perhaps Sydney-siders should take leaf from his book. Daley even knitted himself a gold medal sleeve.
Recent months have seen a resurgence in crochet pieces. If you need any convincing, Bella Hadid has single-handedly brought back the crochet bucket hat while Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff was creating and selling quirky crochet bikinis and pants long before she made her debut on Miu Miu runway.
Daley is set to compete in the Men’s 10m platform category later this week.
