Eugenia Kim, the CEO and creative director of her eponymous girls’ add-ons line—which creates hats worn by celebrities like Beyoncé—and designer Christopher Lee’s meet-cute may be the makings of a Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks rom-com. They met on a tennis companion matching website. “I changed into always looking for new tennis partners,” Eugenia remembers. “In an interview with WWD, they once requested, ‘What is your most coveted accent for the season?’ and I stated, ‘A tennis companion.’ On my Match.Com profile, I even exact that you should have a USTA ranking of 4.0 or higher and be 6 feet tall or taller. My pal Sarah Brown instructed me that my profile wasn’t that inviting—I surprise why?”
Eugenia firmly believes a person’s tennis etiquette is an immediate mirrored image in their character, so she frequently scheduled dates at the courts. “If he attempted to destroy the ball at me, I recognize he’s now not a gentleman,” she says with fun. “If he wears jean shorts in the courtroom, no way, date over! And also, if the date doesn’t move nicely, at the least, I was given an exercise!”
In June 2012, Christopher messaged Eugenia thru the tennis website, which displays every participant’s image, and they immediately concept he appeared handsome. “We set up a date and time to play,” she says. “I knew he was interested in me when I requested: ‘Do you want to play Saturday morning or Saturday nighttime?’ and stated, ‘Evening.’ His friend’s idea became insane because they were throwing a celebration that night, and he left his very own birthday celebration to play tennis with me.” They went on to play tennis together for numerous months and, in the end, began a relationship.
The couple turned a corner of their dating while Eugenia discovered herself quick-staffed at the exact moment when Christopher turned into a career crossroads. “I requested him if he desired to assist me quickly till he found a job he liked,” she recalls. “Friday, March 18th, turned into Christopher’s first day of work at Eugenia Kim Inc., and we have been both pretty worried about running collectively. It turned out to be an excellent day for both people, although. We loved running together, and he designed a top-notch shoe that we called the ‘Chris’ that day.”
That night, they went to dinner with Christopher’s mom, Sarah. After the meal, Eugenia went home to bed, but Christopher stuck around for a nightcap and his mother. In the end, Sarah came in correctly, but Christopher, feeling contemplative, stayed out. “I awoke around 3:00 a.M. And called him to discover wherein he changed into,” Eugenia recollects. “He turned in at a bar nearby, so I met up with him. He then proposed that night at around 4:00 a.M., and I said ‘Y,es!’ I texted a group of my buddies at once.”
The subsequent morning, they mentioned that maybe they weren’t ready. Work was stressful for Eugenia, and they were too harassed even to start thinking about planning a marriage. “But due to the fact I’d already informed anyone, and they’d texted lower back congratulations, we were at a bit of a standstill,” she admits. They met up with Sarah for brunch later that day, and Christopher dropped the bomb that they’d gotten engaged. “Sarah almost fell off her chair!” Eugenia’s well-known show. “At dinner the following night, once she finally recovered, I asked her why people get married, in particular folks that don’t plan on having children, and she or he said, ‘To decide to each other.’ That type sealed the deal for me. Fortunately, we had been working and residing collectively ever when you consider that!