World Cup-winning captain portrait to feature at Empowering Her art exhibition

In April 2026, a record-breaking over 60,000 people are expected to descend on Allianz Stadium in Twickenham for the opening game between England and Ireland in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations. This year’s crowd might also include spectators who are newcomers to the game of rugby, and whose curiosity was piqued not by the sport, but by the art world.

The Empowering Her exhibition, running from Wednesday 4th March to Saturday 14th March at London’s The Gallery, Green & Stone, features a familiar face to rugby lovers: Zoe Stratford.

The England World Cup-winning captain is one of several high-profile figures to have had their portraits painted by renowned artist Caroline de Peyrecave.

For 29-year-old Stratford, it was too good an opportunity to miss. “I had an email asking if I would take part in having my portrait painted and explained [the] Empower Her project, which sounded super cool to me. It’s a massive part of being a female rugby player, being able to feel empowered and to be a role model for young girls as well, to empower themselves,” said the Red Roses mainstay.

“Maybe in the past, it hasn’t been so easy for them to have role models to look up to and realise that they can actually do amazing things with themselves through not even just rugby, but anything to do with sport or their business careers. I thought it was just a really cool project to be involved in and something that I’m really passionate about as well.”

Stratford admitted she was thrilled that someone wanted to paint a portrait of her and excited at the thought of doing something that she had never experienced before. Luckily for her, it didn’t involve hours of sitting still.

 

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“Caroline was very proactive with asking how I wanted it to be, what did I want to feature in the painting, how I wanted it to come across,” she explained. “I was maybe there for about three hours. She took a lot of photos and we had a lot of interaction, chatting about the World Cup and my journey from being a young girl, so the time actually passed pretty quickly.”

Even in that short time, portraitist Caroline managed to get some paint on the canvas, to Stratford’s surprise. “I was amazed that she just stood back, looked at it and then really nonchalantly was painting.”

In the portrait, called “Leading with Strength”, Stratford wears an England jersey and is holding her 2025 World Cup winner’s medal – both were deliberate choices on her part. “I definitely wanted the medal to feature because obviously [it’s] one of the things that I hold as a prized possession and obviously it’s a recent thing.

“I wanted that side of it because maybe people that go and see art don’t potentially know about rugby or women playing rugby. So having something that would catch someone’s eye I thought that was quite an important piece.

“I wanted my hair to be down because I wanted the feminine side of me to also come across and that’s a really important side to me as well, but also wearing the white jersey, which is a massive symbol for English rugby and a massive part of who I am.”

The Empowering Her exhibition is all about women’s visibility, and for Stratford, being able to connect with people beyond the rugby pitch was a chance to potentially help grow the sport’s audience. “Going into the art world is something that we haven’t really crossed paths with, but I think sport is a very powerful thing, and our work is a very powerful thing.

“As a Red Rose, we symbolise our authentic and best selves; wanting to to bring a community together to empower each other and be inspirations for each other. Art is something that can tell that story.”

When asked if the increased visibility surrounding women’s sport, both on and off the pitch, comes at a price, Stratford was definitive. “I would say no. We have wanted this for so long, the increased visibility, we take on board whatever does come with it,” she said.

“We just want more and more so that we can reach more audiences. We can reach more young girls, more women who want to feel empowered, feel strong, be confident in their bodies, be able to use it for things that they didn’t think were possible.”

Stratford has yet to see the final portrait and while she’s keen to do so, Caroline has kept her in the loop with glimpses of it as she progressed. When the Empower Her exhibition is over, the rugby star will get to keep one of the three versions that have been completed.

Artist de Peyrecave said: “For years I’ve noticed how women’s achievements are softened, sidelined, or quietly absorbed into the background. Even for famous women, like the ones celebrated in the show, their role is often narrowed down to what they have achieved on the world stage.

“The show is not just a celebration of the women I have painted – although they are extraordinary – it is a show bringing visibility to all women, their roles in society and their unseen, and often unnoticed, private lives.”