Tom Daley shares ambition to become a ‘designer for life’ after diving
The well known knitter recently launched a Pride collection through his label, Made With Love
Words: Emily Maskell; pictures: Made With Love
Tom Daley has revealed that when he retires from diving, he hopes to be a “designer for life.”
The 28-year-old Olympic diver has already taken his first steps in the design world with his fashion label Made with Love by Tom Daley which launched a Pride-themed capsule collection this summer after he was seen knitting in the stands during the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
100 percent of all profits went to the LGBTQ+ non-profit organisation Rainbow Railroad which helps individuals escape state-sponsored violence.
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Daley is still hoping to compete at the 2024 Olympics in Paris but, with one gold and three bronze Olympic medals alongside a recently awarded OBE for services to diving and LGBTQ+ rights, he’s beginning to think about life when he officially exits the pool.
Daley says that he’s achieved everything that he wants in the world of diving, speaking to Grazia.
“Once I finish diving I want to be a designer for life,” he affirms.
Daley also took stock of how he’s grown as the face of British diving: “What I’ve learned as I’ve got older as an athlete is the more time you take off, the more you get out of the sport when you’re actually doing it.”
Daley has a young son, Robbie, with his husband Dustin Lance Black and alongside his parental responsibilities, he says that the pressure put on young sports stars is too much and that they should have other outlets.
The Olympic gold winner also admitted that he has “wanted to walk away” from the sport “more often than you’d think.”
He says one struggle throughout his career has been his journey with body confidence after he was told that he was “fat” by a coach when he was 15.
“So then all of a sudden I’m on the diving board thinking, ‘Oh gosh, everybody thinks I’m fat.’ And that really, really messed with my head,” he says.
“It gave me all kinds of body image issues that I still have to this day,” Daley notes. “I had a real struggle with bulimia for a while.”
Off the diving board, Daley has been vocal about LGBTQ+ inclusivity in sports, he recently voiced being “furious” at the decision made by swimming’s world governing body, FINA, to restrict transgender athletes in elite women’s competitions.
The sporting star told iNews: “You know, like most queer people, anyone that’s told that they can’t compete or can’t do something they love just because of who they are, it’s not on.”
Daley has also said that he believes countries in which homosexuality is criminalised should be barred from hosting sporting events.
The Attitude July/August issue is out now.