“It’s like Barbie,” Reese told reporters. Walk to the centerwore a two-piece outfit with a Louis Vuitton loop bag and gold heels. Clark appeared in a cream short-sleeved top and brown mini skirt by Gucci. Indiana Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell was Wearing a patchwork jumpsuit Featuring various WNBA logos.
WNBA fashion has been gaining momentum in recent years thanks to avant-garde trendsetters. Aja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Skylar Diggins SmithThis is a big change from the late 1990s and early 2000s, when players and coaches wore traditional business attire and often aligned with masculine tastes (at the time, male NBA players were going through their own fashion crisis). according to SB Nation).
Today, those strutting through the WNBA tunnel (sports lingo for the entrance to the arena on game day) are mixing micro minis, six-inch pumps and leather trench coats with chic menswear-inspired styles.
Vogue magazine, the fashion bible, has published a WNBA tunnel report. New runwayAnd there will be a pre-game fashion show at Saturday night’s All-Star Game.
April Draft start 2024 No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark structured satin shirt She wore a Prada shirt and crystal crop top. Cameron Brink, who came in second overall before suffering a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury, wore a sleek and ultra-modern one-shoulder black gown with cut-outs, while Angel Reese, who came in seventh, wore a glittering, awards-worthy hooded gunmetal dress by Australian brand Bronx & Vanco.
WNBA players make just a fraction of what their male counterparts make, and fashion, and the expensive brand endorsements that come with it, could boost players’ incomes in the league.
In order to secure new sponsorship deals for athletes and bring more attention to the WNBA as a whole, Christopher Ruff WNBA League Fit Social media accounts. Ruff has been a WNBA fan since watching Lisa Leslie play for the Los Angeles Sparks 20 years ago, and in 2021 I started thinking about how we could bring more fans to the league.
“Fashion can be used as a first step to get people to pay more attention to the actual product, which is gaming,” Ruff said.
A player’s clothing can convey their personality and creativity, resonating with people who don’t usually watch basketball. Tunnel fashion has a more individual appeal than the standard formality of game attire.
But many athletes don’t have the luxury of having big-name fashion brands knocking on their doors, so they’re getting creative: WNBA stylists are scrambling to source Italian fabrics and tailor looks for players who don’t have major brand endorsement deals, said Belissa Vaughn, a fashion publicist who runs an Instagram account. Focus on the look of the WNBA tunnel.
“They just want to really embrace their creativity, their self-expression,” Vaughn told the Post.
for example, Napheesa CollierInstead of sourcing the same styles from major retailers, they prioritize emerging brands that are women-owned or Black-owned, or that are carried by local boutiques.
The growing popularity is a good thing for budding designers and fashion-conscious athletes, Vaughn said.
“To see the respect and admiration that they’re getting from pop culture and society right now, it’s really rewarding,” Vaughn said, “because these players are doing so much good, not just on the court, but in so many other ways.”
