Supermodels have Fashion Month runways. Celebrities have the red carpet. And athletes—they have the tunnel walk.
What was once an unremarkable, dingy stretch from the locker room to the arena has become a concrete catwalk and a beacon of personal style. It's where players flaunt custom couture and head-to-toe designer outfits, while photographers scramble to capture a shot of the looks in the same way they would an A-list actor at an awards show.
Like most expressive fashion movements, pre-game peacocking was born from rebellion. In 2005, NBA commissioner David Stern enforced an infamous “casual business attire” dress code, mandating players wear a jacket and tie for all league activities (even sitting on the bench while injured). While restrictive, the dress code also begot a personal style phenomenon within the league. "It was like, ‘OK, now we got to really dress up and we can't just throw on a sweat suit,” Dwyane Wade said in a 2014 interview about finding his fashion sense as a result of the rule.
Four-time MVP LeBron James started coordinating with his teammates in Thom Browne, while Kyle Kuzma of the Washington Wizards made headlines for his one-of-a-kind flair, including a Pepto-pink Raf Simons sweater so oversized it swallowed his 6-foot-10 frame. Luxury brands like Prada and Valentino began loaning looks in the hopes a baller would wear one and—fingers crossed—be posted on League Fits, an Instagram account dedicated to tunnel style with over one million followers. The game day grand entrance had become a competitive sport in and of itself, with a viewership of sports fanatics and aspirational dressers alike.
And recently, as women's sports continues to rise and rise, female players are rightfully being recognized for their own standout style moments: The WNBA's Angel Reese appeared in Vogue, while Caitlin Clark is known to roll through the tunnel decked out in Prada and Fendi ‘fits. New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and Seattle Storm’s Skylar Diggins-Smith frequently rack up likes on League Fits alongside the boys. And it’s not just women basketball stars: The National Women's Soccer League players have started dressing to the nines before games, swapping their team-wide uniforms for designer drip when walking to the field.
Behind every one of those looks, is a new wave of stylists helping athletes step up their style game—and making us all want to dress like one in the process. To help understand what goes into a tunnel walk outfit, we spoke to a few of the key players about sports' high fashion moment.
Clients: Kelsey Plum, Cameron Brink, Rae Burrell, Marina Mabrey, and Chelsea Gray
How she began styling athletes: I wanted to be a sports agent my whole life, so I did my undergraduate and master’s degrees in sports management. I graduated with my master’s in 2020 and had a job set up, but COVID happened and the program never started.
In September of 2021, a good friend of mine, Jewell Loyd—Kobe [Bryant] called her the Gold Mamba; she's an Olympian, currently plays for the Seattle Storm, and is one of the best—asked me to style her because she liked how I dressed. She offered to pay me, and in my brain, I thought, I could use the extra money. That's literally how [my styling career] started.
I had no clue what I was doing. I asked Jewell, "What do you want? How do we do this? What's the budget? How much money do you want to give me?” I was charging her about $50 an outfit, and she would give me about $2,000 to shop for clothes and tell me to “just go play.”
Everything blossomed from there. Respectfully, I know what the fuck I'm doing now. But I had to learn and wouldn't have unless I got thrown into the fire.
The busy schedule of a stylist: It's nonstop. I haven't been home in a month. I started in New York City shopping for Marina Mabrey, and then went to Chicago for her fitting. Then I was in Vegas for two weeks and prepping Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray’s outfits for the upcoming months. I’m in Los Angeles now, working with Cameron Brink and Rae Burrell.
On bonding over basketball with her clients: I played divisional college basketball at Pepperdine University and Long Beach State University. I had some good years and some not-so-good years—I tore out my shoulder and had a few surgeries. I'm 27 now and haven't played in four years, but I still associate myself with being a hooper girl. Being a women’s basketball player helps my relationships with my clients because I'm able to connect the two worlds of basketball and style. Even understanding who they are on the court helps with styling them; Marina Mabrey, for example, is cool and chill off the court, but she's a dog on the court—a menace—so I dress her to that vibe.
A standout outfit from the season: Kelsey Plum's outfit for the first game of the 2024 season was very special. At the time, Kelsey was going through a divorce. We talked about bringing that into her tunnel walk outfits and decided to go all black and sexy for her first game. Death had a funeral, baby—that was the vibe. The Alexander Wang leather look was our number one option, but it almost didn't happen because it got stuck in transit.
Kelsey's game was on Tuesday. I flew from Las Vegas to Los Angeles at 6:00 a.m. on Monday, but when I landed, I saw the outfit was stuck in transit and had yet to arrive in Vegas. So I rented a car, drove an hour to the Alexander Wang store in Orange County, California, and pulled the entire outfit from the store. I woke early Tuesday morning and drove back to Vegas with the look. When [Plum] put the outfit on, it fit like a glove. We started freaking out because we knew that look was it.
It went viral everywhere. [Outlets like WWD, People, and Page Six covered the outfit, and Plum's Instagram post received over 160,000 likes.] The tunnel outfit getting attention was great, of course, but with what she was going through personally and how it made her feel really good, that was everything to me. And when you look good, you feel good, and you play good—that's just word in the basketball bible.
On the rise of interest in women’s tunnel walks: I feel like I got into [athlete styling] at the perfect time. Two years ago, no one really gave a shit. The money wasn't there—nothing. Now, it's a complete 180. Women's sports, basketball specifically, are starting to pop off, and there's money out there to be made. I'm bringing brand deals to the table for my girls, and that's where the agent part of me comes in. I tell my [clients]: You're hiring me for a reason. What are your goals behind this? Obviously, you want to look good. But as an athlete, you're trying to create a brand for yourself. You're here to set the tone, make a niche, and create special moments that go with who you are. That's how the brands come flocking, which turns into brand deals.
Clients: Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, and Tina Charles
Sport’s long-standing intersection with fashion: I started styling in 2011 as an assistant for Rachel Johnson, who is the godmother of converging sport and style. Rachel was working with LeBron James then, and my first client as an assistant was Tina Charles. (Crazy enough, circling back now, Tina is a current client of mine.) I remember going to the rookie seminars for the WNBA and teaching the women about the importance of style, showing up as their best selves, and how that could impact business off the court. We were sort of the first group of women to try to introduce the fashion community to the value of athletes as influencers and tastemakers.
It's so interesting because now there is so much interest in the W and what they wear. I love what athletes like Caitlin Clark are doing, but there are many women they stand on the backs of who have been doing this for so long.
Styling the NBA versus the WNBA: Quite honestly, there's not much of a difference between styling men and women athletes. If we're speaking fashion, my female clients are sort of masculine presenting and gender fluid in the way that they dress, which I’m very excited by because I’m able to lean into my love of menswear for them.
Logistically, there are half the number of games for the WNBA: 82 games for the NBA and about 40 for the WNBA. Since I'm used to doing 80-plus games for the men, I have a bit of an advantage with my women clients. With them, it's like, "Okay, we got this."
On putting her clients in independent brands: Choosing to support smaller businesses partially comes from the fashion community not yet fully understanding the value of athletes. Whereas insert-whatever-actor might get boxes and boxes from Saint Laurent, that's not happening for athletes—even for the Chris Pauls of the world. So, I say, "Let's flip that on its head and support the small and minority-owned brands that aren't getting as much recognition."
Getting ready on game day: I haven't been there on game days for any of my women clients, but I have for the guys. I'm curious to see as momentum builds around the W, if there will be a moment where a client is like, "Hey, this is a big game. I need you to come get me dressed as if it's red carpet." But to be honest, most athletes have very strict game day rituals [and] having extra people in the space messes up the flow of their day.
Before the game, we set up a really organized rack with all of the necessary shoes and accessories hung with the look. It's really an exercise in convenience. The athletes are there to play the sport, and their goal is to have a great game, win a championship, et cetera. So, I’m focused on making that game day experience as easy as possible so the process of getting dressed doesn't make the day difficult. I think ahead to that moment before the game so that the socks and sunglasses are there, and the pearl necklace is included. All [the client] has to do is pick up the hanger, and the outfit is ready to go.
Since I’m not there, there's a lot of FaceTime and back-and-forth pictures. We have a photo stream of all the looks and a group chat with their partners and people around [the athletes]. I try to keep the communication really open on game days.
A distinctly Breanna Stewart outfit: Breanna is a multiple Olympic gold medalist, and she's considered a veteran in the W. I love working with sports veterans like [Breanna] because they have a real understanding of fashion's impact on your business and consumers of this sport. Additionally, the importance of collaboration among teams, including the mixing of the W supporting the NBA and vice versa. It's not about who the most important athlete is—it's about making an impact and how we can all do that together in a meaningful way.
Breanna recently wore a look by Honor the Gift, Los Angeles Clippers point guard Russell Westbrook's brand, of a simple, oversized jacket and matching pants. You could tell she felt confident when she walked into the arena, and those are the looks I love the best.
About body diversity within the WNBA: I’d be remiss not to point out that some of these women are 6-foot-2, -3, and -4 and wear size men's 12 and 13 shoes. Styling athletes is a different process than dressing the quote-unquote sample-size model or actor. I'm on the constant hunt for pants that are really long. I love to lean into the brands that have size availability, from double extra small to triple extra large and long lengths. These are super fit, strong, and cut-up athletic bodies, and it's important for me to lean into that. Let's show off your arms. If you're 6-foot-5, and your legs are basically 6 feet tall, let's show them.
Clients: Alex Morgan, Mikaela Shiffrin, and Katie Ledecky
The significance of tunnel walk fashion: [Tunnel walk style] started with the NBA, then the WNBA, and now it’s in the NWSL. I really hope that other sports, like tennis, follow suit because the tunnel makes the athletes more accessible by showing the world who they are. It's an opportunity to showcase your personality, your style, and yourself during games versus the one-off, two-off red carpets they attend.
Three years ago, athletes would attend some red carpets—always to the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly (ESPY) Awards, maybe the MTV Movie Awards, a store opening, and whatnot. Now, the tunnels are their red carpets.
The thought process behind styling a tunnel look: Weather is a huge factor. Alex [Morgan] is in San Diego, and the majority of her tunnel is outside—they walk from the parking lot, a little bit of the tunnel, and then to the soccer field. So we have to factor in the warmer climate and choose her materials and silhouettes wisely.
Aside from the comfortability, fabric choice is also about what will look good on sports cameras versus red carpet cameras. Taffeta or silk would wrinkle more easily in a tunnel walk versus a red carpet where they're standing for relatively the entire time.
An outfit that perfectly represented Alex Morgan’s style: I've been working with Alex [Morgan] now for 12 years, so I know her like the back of my hand. The majority of her career is spent in a uniform that everybody else is wearing, so [with her personal style], she wants to let it all out and express herself.
This season, she wore a very cool Amanda Uprichard sage green-gray set of a matching tank top and cargo pants that really allowed her personality to come through. The outfit encapsulated all of what Alex’s style is: a little bit classy, a little bit trendy, but still has that sporty, athletic-minded piece, too.
On Alex Morgan wearing Caitlin Clark’s jersey: With Alex, we try to have a schedule of planned looks, but there's always something that happens. When she wore the Caitlin Clark jersey for the March San Diego Waves game, we had a completely different look planned. But Caitlin [Clark] had a great game, and Alex wanted to do something to give her props. It was very, very last minute, but we put a call into Nike, got the jersey, and styled out a completely different outfit, which ended up looking great.
That outfit was the prime example of women supporting women. It was a moment of women really rooting for each other and—literally—having each other's backs.
The empowering duality of tunnel fashion: Growing up, I felt like I had to be either an athlete or into fashion. There was no way you could be both. But so many girls these days who look up to these athletes are now seeing their heroes, so to speak, on a completely different level. They're being normal and human—shopping and wearing clothes—just like them. It shows these young girls that you can be powerful no matter what you wear. You can be a badass on the field or your respective playing court yet still love fashion. You can be an athlete, still be a "girl," and appreciate clothes. You don't have to be either/or.
Clients: Angel Reese, Zia Cooke, and Rickea Jackson
How her styling journey began: I just turned 21. I’m currently studying business marketing at Cleveland State University. My styling business took off when I was a freshman in college, and I’m now about to be a senior.
After graduating high school, I got a retail job and started styling customers and making content for TikTok. My TikTok videos started blowing up, and each post received recognition from influencers and a couple of celebrities. Then, Zia Cooke (point guard for the Los Angeles Sparks) reached out. She’s from Toledo, and I’m from Cleveland, Ohio, so we’ve known each other since I was a freshman in high school. She asked me to style her for the 2023 WNBA draft, and I said yes, of course. I put her in a black Albina Dyla gown, and the look went viral because it wasn't common for a woman in the draft to wear a gown. After that, everything just took off.
The story of connecting with Angel Reese: Angel Reese had tweeted, "zia outfit ateeeeee," about [Cook's] WNBA draft look, so I took that as an opportunity to shoot my shot at [Reese]. I tweeted, "I want Angel Reese next," and tagged her. She responded within two hours. The crazy part, though, was that a couple of weeks prior, I was watching one of her Louisiana State University games at a restaurant with my family in Miami. I remember telling my people, "I'm definitely going to style [Reese] next. She's my next target." And it happened.
A standout tunnel walk outfit: Styling Angel for her LSU games was very different from styling a tunnel walk look for the professional league. The college outfits are slightly toned down, but professionally, it's, like, Bang! Welcome to the league.
For Angel’s game against the Arkansas Razorbacks earlier this year, we were really having fun. I had her try on a couple of things, and we played around with layering the Marine Serre long-sleeve shirt underneath the Balenciaga tee. [Angel] really wanted to wear that yellow Charles Jeffrey Loverboy hat because those were pretty popular at the moment. Believe it or not, the bag is from H&M. I try to use affordable pieces in my client’s tunnel walk outfits because I want them to be role models and their pieces to be accessible. I want their fans to go and buy the look, too. Let’s see how you rock it.
The next client “targets” she’s manifesting: I would love to work with ShaCarri Richardson and JuJu Watkins next.
Current clients: DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas
The logistics of styling for the tunnel walk: Location is an incredibly important aspect of building a tunnel walk outfit. The athletes are traveling all the time; they could be in Miami for one game and then go somewhere cold next. You have to make sure that they're prepared because it's not their job to tell you their playing schedule. You have to do that research on your own.
You also never want your client to wear the same thing as someone else, so you have to be on guard, doing the research, and figuring out what their teammates and other athletes are wearing. That actually almost happened to me once: I sent [a look] to my client, and he literally said, "My teammate just wore that last game." I had missed it.
The timing of the games is key, too. Some basketball games are earlier in the day, at noon or 3:00 PM, or they can be late-night games, so it's important to check the weather at those times. You don't want your client in shorts and a short-sleeve button-up top when it's raining outside, even though it might be a Miami game.
On styling a WNBA couple: I had never styled a WNBA player before DeWanna Bonner emailed me about my services for her and her fiancé, Alyssa Thomas, who both play for the Connecticut Sun. I was excited to start working with them because their styles are completely different, but their visions go together very well. When styling a couple, their outfits can't clash because they usually walk the tunnel next to each other. Every look has to go together.
DeWanna told me, "I want to look like the first lady but with some streetwear mixed in"—dressed up and feminine but, at the same time, with a certain cool girl vibe. She wants to be a person who can do it all. One day, she’ll wear a dress and heels, and the next day, sneakers, a blazer, and some trousers. I also have to think about her height, too, because she is a 6-foot-5 woman.
DeWanna is more particular about what she wants to wear, whereas Alyssa will wear whatever matches [DeWanna]. Alyssa dresses very simply and comfortably and wears only men's clothing. She told me her style inspiration is Devin Booker, who wears almost the same thing to every game—neutral colors, all black, and a lot of very low-key looks.
On styling Bonner and Thomas’s first look of the season: DeWanna basically came up with the idea for her outfit. We chose her looks for May together, and she approved all of them. But then, two days later, DeWanna texted me and said, “Don't kill me, but I want to do an all-black leather look for the first game.”
By this time, it was super last minute, with only a couple of days left until the game. I didn't want it to be a black leather dress—that felt boring. So I sent over a few options, and DeWanna loved this Simkhai matching leather set with a bunch of gold zippers, which I thought was very edgy but still classy. We had to ship everything overnight to arrive in time, but we got it all. We did a high-knee boot and put some sunglasses on her, and DeWanna loved it.
For Alyssa, she loved what we had already planned. It’s nice that Alyssa likes simple, Devon Booker vibes and most of her looks are neutral, which makes [coordinating with Dewanna] a little easier.
Playing the long game with fashion: With any sport, you only play for so many years in the league. After that, then what? Getting into fashion as an athlete and having a stylist navigate you in the right direction can then set you up for more success once you're no longer playing. Athletes are going to the Met Gala now: Odell Beckham Jr. went this year, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went last year. They're going to fashion shows, and Jalen Ramsey is signed with Gucci. You never want to limit yourself, and fashion is a big way of putting yourself in different categories to set yourself up for when you're not on the team anymore.
