From suits to skirts: Inside the NBA’s high fashion explosion

By Jamie Barton, CNN

(CNN) — A 29-year-old man puts on a carefully planned outfit and walks out in front of a crowd of photographers and journalists. Articles are written about what he is wearing. Photos of the look are plastered all across Instagram.

No, this is not a movie star, or a musician, or a model at this year’s New York Fashion Week.

It’s Canadian basketball star Dillon Brooks on his way to play an NBA game.

“It’s kind of cool that we can walk on our own little red carpet before we play our game of basketball,” he says in an interview with CNN Sports.

The tunnel walk has become a staple of the league in recent years. The sport’s stars arrive for the day’s matchup decked out in everything from designer sneakers to plaid kilts.

“I think it’s important. It’s a part of – not the game itself – but all the stuff beforehand,” continues Brooks. “Building fan relations. Just all the buildup before the game, with all these photographers and media and all that.”

From suits to skirts

It wasn’t always like this. There’s always been space in the NBA for a sharp suit, but nowadays things are on a different level.

“Some people have stylists that are putting their stuff together,” says Brooks. “It’s growing, it’s progressing.”

New York Knicks guard Jordan Clarkson is another NBA star who takes fashion seriously. He pinpoints the beginning of the league’s style explosion about 10 years ago, naming Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook as those who helped usher in a new age.

“He’s a big staple in NBA fashion,” Clarkson says of 2017 MVP Westbrook in an interview with CNN Sports. “One of these pioneer guys.”

Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt believes the league’s high fashion revolution came even more recently.

“I would say like five or so years ago, there’s only like a couple guys that were into fashion,” Vanderbilt says in an interview with CNN.

“I feel like a lot of guys are picking up on it. I think when I went four or five years ago, it’s probably like maybe three or four guys that went to the Fashion Week. And now, this past summer, it was multiple – probably like 20-30 guys. So it’s definitely growing over the years.”

To a certain extent, NBA players have had to fight for the right to wear what they want. In the wake of the Malice at the Palace, commissioner David Stern introduced a controversial dress code for the 2005-06 season which banned the baggy pants of the day and an assortment of “chains, pendants or medallions” worn over clothes, requiring players to wear business casual attire. Players like Jason Richardson and Stephen Jackson said the policy targeted the league’s Black players and dubbed it “racist.”

The code was relaxed during the 2020 NBA Bubble but, as Clarkson points out, players had already been able to show off their style while remaining within the guidelines.

“I feel like guys with creativity and stuff will be able to pull stuff even if the NBA did have a dress code or not,” he explains. “I think guys, if they had that flair or whatever, they’re gonna do whatever they want anyway, in the league. So I would say it loosened up a little bit (once the code was relaxed) in terms of people taking chances, but I think people are just gonna do what they do anyways.”

Part of the game

Nowadays, the league takes a very different approach to what its stars wear.

“They’ve been highlighting the tunnel. The tunnel has kind of always been a thing, but certain pages and the NBA itself have kind of highlighted guys walking through that tunnel,” explains Vanderbilt.

“It was always a thing, but I think they’ve been highlighting it a lot more in recent years.”

Once seen as part of a perceived image problem, what NBA players wear is now part of one of the league’s biggest marketing strengths: a collection of larger-than-life characters showing off their personalities through remarkable actions on and off the court.

“I think it’s just expressing myself. Just how I put myself together, honestly. I just don’t like stepping out the house not looking fresh,” says Clarkson.

“Everybody’s kind of got their own lanes, their own looks and their own styles,” he adds. “Now, seeing all the young guys, there’s just so many guys that express themselves differently – multiple styles in different ways.”

In a sport where you are being watched by thousands of strangers almost every night, Vanderbilt shares the belief that fashion is about showing a little bit of yourself.

“It’s definitely expressive. It’s a way to express yourself, a way to tap into your creativity, your creative mind,” he says. “Just the joy of actually putting outfits together and just being able to find and collect certain pieces, being able to put them together.”

With some of the league’s stars unafraid to walk out with kilts, handbags and leather boots, that self-expression has led to some pretty avant-garde looks.

“At first – way, way back – it was all baggy, and like suits and ties,” says Brooks. “Now, I feel like guys almost wear anything, to be honest.”

What that means, of course, is that players do not look out of place when they attend events like New York Fashion Week, which is currently running in the Big Apple.

“New York Fashion Week is always fun,” says Clarkson. “The last few years have been fun. I got a chance to see Ralph Lauren in the Hamptons. That was pretty crazy.”

Vanderbilt has fond memories of Fashion Weeks in Europe, too.

“I went to Paris. A show that stood out to me was the Louis Vuitton show I went to in Paris. It was super dope,” he remembers. “I went to the first one of the Pharrell collections, and the production, the execution and the line itself was all top tier.”

Brooks is especially passionate about seeing into the mind of a designer through what they choose to put on stage.

“Just the aura of sitting down and watching a person’s artistic ability that you can put on yourself,” he says. “Being able to celebrate a person’s vision and their artwork right in front of you and everybody else.”

But despite their artistic side, these are still sportspeople, and with that comes a certain level of competitiveness.

So, who is the best dressed player in the league?

“Honestly, I love my fashion this year,” says Brooks.

“I definitely would say myself,” says Clarkson.

“I would 100% say myself,” says Vanderbilt.

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CNN’s Jacob Lev contributed to reporting.