Victoria’s Secret Model, Actress Kelly Gale Joins Forces With Former Tennis Pro Robin Söderling’s Label
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Former Victoria’s Secret model-turned-actress Kelly Gale has teamed with former tennis star Robin Söderling on a collaboration.
Having grown up mostly in Sweden, Gale had followed the Swedish-born tennis pro’s career years before their professional lives intertwined. Launched in the U.S. in 2015 with what was the official match ball on the ATP Tour tournament, RS Sports is sold through various tennis retailers and online. As someone, who plays tennis several days a week at the Malibu Racquet Club when her schedule allows, Gale said she sought a tennis deal after noticing a lack of cool tennis clothes that could be worn off-the-court too. The collaboration comes as the brand strives to broaden its reach Stateside.
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The collaboration with RS Sports is a first for Gale, who is keen to do more especially within sportswear. One of her designs for the label is an adjustable hat that allows the wearer to have a high pontytail versus lower ones, which most hats allow for. Seeing another marketplace void in high-performance sports bras that are fashionable and flattering, Gale created one for RS Sports.
“I have very big, natural boobs and it’s hard to do high-impact sports with good support. It’s easy to find a good-looking sports bra or one that is high-functioning and supportive. But it’s hard to find one that has both,” Gale said.
Reached in a blizzard-like snowstorm north of Stockholm on Monday, Gale is typically based in Los Angeles, where she is represented by Magnolia Entertainment and Buchwald. She recently appeared in “The Plane” with Gerard Butler, which premiered earlier this year. Gale will be featured in the movie “The Uglies” that will debut on Netflix this spring. Having just returned from a sci-fi movie shoot in India, Gale has two other films in the works that she was not at liberty to discuss yet. In a month she will be off to Australia to shoot another movie.
Her modeling career started at the age of 12 and as the years went by, her modeling agency received a flurry of acting requests for Gale. The pandemic shutdown provided the time to start acting classes. Her actor boyfriend Joel Kinnaman (who is now her fiancé) encouraged that professional pursuit. Shifting from modeling to acting is not easily done without some stereotyping. “It still is hard. I’m always trying to go for the roles that aren’t so stereotypical for models to play — relationship dramas, sci-fi and action movies,” she said.
That approach seems to be working. “I often don’t get call backs for the pretty hot girl roles, even if I audition for them. I’m just more interested in the more complex characters,” Gale said. “After #MeToo, some directors and producers are afraid to cast a Victoria’s Secret model in a serious role.”
Having last walked the runway for the lingerie company in 2018, Gale had only learned recently of Victoria’s Secret plans to bring back its fashion show. As for whether being a Victoria’s Secret model can be a blessing or a curse, Gale said it definitely was more of a positive.
As a model, Gale had a bird’s-eye view of just how much work goes into developing a collection, but she remains undeterred in working more in design. “A lot of work goes into everything that I do whether it’s becoming an actor or appearing in a movie. People think, ‘Oh, she just got cast in this movie.’ But a lot of people work and study for many years, and do thousands of auditions before getting a call-back. It’s the same thing doing a clothing collection — a lot of work goes into it. You just focus on where you are at the moment, and not so much on the end result. Then you will get there.”
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