WNBA players are stars on the court and the carpet
Players are turning tunnel walks into fashion runways, using style to build brands and reshape what female athletes look like
Sukhmani Sandhu
Seattle Storm game against the Las Vegas Aces on Sept. 5, 2024 at Climate Pledge Arena (Sukhmani Sandhu)
This Atlanta Dream guard is making plays on the court and the carpet.
Allisha Gray is having a record-breaking season in the WNBA. Her rebounds, assists, steals and shooting percentage are all up from the 2024 season. Gray is also hitting a career-high in points, with 18.3 points this season.
At WNBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis, Gray showcased her style and game. She rocked custom looks on the orange carpet, the colour of the WNBA logo. Then, she dropped 18 points in the All-Star game and finished second in the three-point contest.
For the orange carpet, Gray rocked a custom denim-on-denim Schiaparelli-inspired look. The heavy metals and gold in her outfit were a nod to her stylist, MacKenzee ‘Golden’ McDonald.
“I wanted to just bring her out of her comfort zone, and kind of give a new look that I knew was not going to be executed on the carpet,” McDonald said. Taking risks is a part of fashion, she said.
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Allisha Gray and MacKenzee "Golden" McDonald pictured getting ready for WNBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis (itsgoldenpiece/Instagram and Sukhmani Sandhu/Canva)
“The pressure of making an athlete, the ongoing hours, the mental health that no one talks about, all these things that are the pressure of making this pearl — which is Allisha.”
Gray wore Nike for her All-Star tunnel debut, featuring a pair of Nike Air Max Muse sneakers, pleated white trousers and pearl detailing. The jacket also had Gray’s name and her number, 15, on the back.
McDonald designed the outfit she named “Pressure Makes Pearls” as a metaphor for Gray’s athletic career.
“Diamonds are shiny, they're bright, and everybody wants a diamond, but I feel diamonds are fairly loud and blinding — and that's not Allisha,” McDonald said. “She's not going to talk so much about how she plays — she just wants to show you how she plays.”
“The pressure of making an athlete, the ongoing hours, the mental health that no one talks about, all these things that are the pressure of making this pearl — which is Allisha.”
Most of the looks had deeper meanings and not just because they look good, McDonald said. “I always want my looks to tell a story, whether it's a small thing or a major thing about that person.”
WNBA players are taking over the court and the fashion world.
Ahead of the 2024 season, Kim Kardashian’s clothing brand, Skims, launched a campaign with both former and current WNBA players. Candace Parker, Cameron Brink, Dijonai Carrington, Kelsey Plum and Skylar Diggins all modeled in the campaign.
Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese was the first professional basketball player to model solo for a Vogue cover. The ‘Bayou Barbie’ is part of a growing class of WNBA players styling high-fashion for tunnel walks, turning them from arena entrances to runways.
This growth between the WNBA and fashion is part of a larger growth between sports and fashion, and the growth of the league.
2024 New York Liberty game at Barclays Centre (Submitted)
During the 2024 season the WNBA set a new single-game attendance record of 20,711, and became the most-watched WNBA season on all ESPN platforms.
With this growth, the league announced five new expansion teams by 2030. The Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire will begin playing next season, Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030.
Three of these cities — Portland, Cleveland and Detroit — have had WNBA franchises before, which were either moved or shut down. But the Portland Fire, Cleveland Rockers and Detroit Shock are making a comeback.
As of 2022, 81.1 per cent of WNBA players are people of colour and 70.3 percent are Black, The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport reports. Many players also identify as part of the queer community.
With the growth of the league, many brands are partnering with players and teams.
“We have brands that are buying in, and not just in clothing, but also hair, makeup, all these different ways that brands are now tapping in that also could have tapped in years ago,” Courtney M. Cox said.
Cox is an assistant professor at the University of Oregon, with a background in sports journalism. Her book Double Crossover: Gender, Media, and Politics in Global Basketball, “takes readers into the lived world of women’s basketball to shed light on their struggles, triumphs, and contributions.”
WNBA players are stepping into the world of fashion — by launching their own clothing lines, while balancing both fashion and professional basketball careers.
Before the growth of sports and fashion, there was a more narrow avenue for athletes wanting to enter the fashion industry, Cox said. Often they would intern with a sports brand, such as Nike or Adidas, and work in developing sportswear and performance gear.
“I think it's important to have athletes helping make decisions about what athletes wear, (because) it’s important to have folks that actually wear and do this to help us think about it,” Cox said. “But allowing (athletes in fashion) to expand, with high fashion and couture — there's a place for athletes there too.”
Olivia Nelson-Ododa pictured left, Nika Muhl pictured right (kayelise/Instagram)
“I always wonder when these athletes sleep because from my time following athletes around, I just decided they kind of don't,” Cox said. “I mean, they have to, right? They have to perform at high levels. But they are booked and busy at all times and always thinking about what's next — what happens after their career is over.”
Connecticut Sun forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa debuted her clothing brand Kayelise at Miami Fashion Week in 2024. For Paris Fashion Week in February, Seattle Storm guard Nika Muhl walked for Kayelise.
Nelson-Ododa though was far from the action when her designs debuted in Paris, as she was competing in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association playoffs for the Shanxi Flame.
“Seeing it happen, even from a distance, was just so emotional,” Nelson-Ododa told the Boston Globe Sports.
“I always wonder when these athletes sleep because from my time following athletes around, I just decided they kind of don't,” Cox said. “I mean, they have to, right? They have to perform at high levels. But they are booked and busy at all times and always thinking about what's next — what happens after their career is over.”
Tiffany Hayes retired after 11 seasons in the WNBA in 2023, but came out of retirement for the 2024 season to join the Las Vegas Aces. That same summer, she launched her clothing brand, Seyah.
Now, Hayes plays for the Golden State Valkyries and styles pieces from Seyah for her tunnel walks.
“Fashion is a great inroads, not only because so many (WNBA players) have been self-fashioning for so long that they have big ideas, but they also have been styling their teammates,” Cox said. “I think for a lot of folks, they are like, ‘okay, all these folks get to make money off of me.’ When's my chance to shine and step into this industry?”
Former basketball player and coach Esther Wallace created the brand Playa Society. She created the infamous ‘female athlete’ T-shirt with ‘female’ crossed out. Many athletes come into the tunnel wearing Playa Society, Cox said.
“She's a really iconic example of not only folks that are currently in the league, that are designing their own stuff and thinking about their own styling from a very personal perspective, but also former athletes and how they're tapping in as stylists and creators in their own way,” Cox said.
Wallace partnered with the WNBA to create merchandise, and recently the Golden State Valkyries as they play in their inaugural season.
Former WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne (left) and Kobe Bryant (right) wearing the orange WNBA hoodie (nikebasketball/Instagram)
Cox said a lot of people’s knowledge about WNBA fashion and merchandise starts and stops with the orange hoodie phenomenon.
Kobe Bryant wore the orange WNBA hoodie court-side for a Los Angeles Lakers game in 2019, and overnight the hoodie gained in popularity. Eventually, the orange hoodie became the best-selling WNBA item ever.
“Then the other side, I think about Playa Society and other kinds of outposts that are serving W fans in particular, is about what it means to have a league that continues to undervalue merchandise,” Cox said.
“From a more league driven perspective, I think about the necessity of these brands and labels doing special WNBA drops or collaborations. I think that as more necessary than ever.”
Playa Society Female Athlete T-shirt (Playa Society)
TOGETHXR 'Everbody Watches Women Sports' T-shirt (togethxr/Instagram)
Many player-owned and fan-owned companies create merchandise for WNBA fans.
TOGETHXR created the ‘Everybody Watches Women’s Sport’ t-shirt, and has now partnered with Nike to create more products and colourways. The women’s sports brand is owned by five female athletes, including former Seattle Storm guard and five-time Olympic gold medalist, Sue Bird. TOGETHXR also created a new t-shirt and shoes colourways for the NCAA’s March Madness.
“For a long time, if folks have been fans of the W, there's a lot of stuff we couldn't get, including things you take for granted, like jerseys for certain players,” Cox said.
Nike did a jersey drop for Sabrina Ionescue when she was in college, and they didn’t print enough and the jerseys sold out immediately, Cox said. “There's always this underselling and undercutting of the potential. There's also this bottom up, really beautiful way that folks are expressing themselves and having this moment that I think is worth acknowledging.”
Sarah Coleman has been a New York Liberty fan since the early 2000s, and she takes some of her fashion inspiration from some of her favourite players, including Paige Bueckers and NaLyssa Smith.
Despite being a rookie, Bueckers is taking on the role of the 2025 first overall pick on the court and in the tunnel.
“The brands that she likes are super indie New York streetwear brands. I have those pieces, so it's cool to see her wear them, because a lot of people don't know them outside of New York,” Coleman said. “I'll be like, ‘okay, I like the way she paired it, so maybe I'll try it.’”
One New York streetwear brand Coleman has seen Bueckers wear many times is KidSuper. Namely, she wore an oversized purple KidSuper suit to the 2024 ESPYs.
Sometimes she dresses like Bueckers, but Coleman said she prefers a more fitted look, and leans towards Smith’s fashion as well.
Coleman’s favourite style in the WNBA is a mix of both feminine and masculine players. For feminine players, she likes Reese’s and Nelson-Ododa’s fashion.
“(Reese) has a fearless kind of like. It'll be 100 degrees, and you'll still see her in a fur outfit. She really doesn't care, she'll go for it. So I love that about (Reese), because it matches her personality as well,” Coleman said.
For masculine players, Coleman likes the baggy tops and long jorts Arike Ogunbowale wears. Coleman has also noticed more players dressing more masculine in recent years.
“(Ogunbowale) dressed more feminine (before), because I guess they were telling her she had to,” Coleman said. “I remember she was on Dancing with the Stars, and I was like, ‘what is Arike doing on here in this ball gown?’”
When Coleman first watched the WNBA in the early 2000s, people “used to say that everyone was too boyish or too man-ish.”
“They need to wear makeup, do their hair, and things like that. I think that used to be a heavy part of why some people claimed they didn't watch.”
Courtney M. Cox is a associate professor at the University of Oregon (Submitted)
“No one's going through the ugly, weird middle school phase anymore, like everyone's just emerging swaggy.”
“I love seeing the legacy of draft day fits. I think it is really telling, because there was a conformity through the 90s and early 2000s where everyone had on a church dress suit,” Cox said.
While today’s draft classes play with femininity and masculinity that is very forward, Cox said. “No one's going through the ugly, weird middle school phase anymore, like everyone's just emerging swaggy.”
“Whether people are playing into the feminine or masculine is less important to me. It’s like how they're queering the expectation of what a female athlete can be, and the expectations on and off of the court,” Cox said.
Cox adds many players mix between femininity and masculinity. “You don't have to have this monolithic closet that's like, this is who I have to be every single day. But rather, it's the idea of who am I today?”