Throughout the summer, fans file into arenas across the country, ready to take in WNBA action on the hardwood. But hours before the lights go up and faithfuls line up to present their tickets, a different, subterranean show takes place below the court. The dimly lit corridors in the bowels of arenas do not provide the most glamorous of backdrops, but the WNBA’s stars
have transformed them into cutting-edge catwalks–– and in doing so, cemented themselves as style icons. The WNBA tunnel walk has taken the fashion world by storm, and with more eyeballs on the league this season, the pregame ritual has garnered even more attention.
“I’ve been doing tunnel walks since 2013,” says Storm star Skylar Diggins. “[There] just weren’t that many people there to take my damn picture.” Diggins has long been considered one of the best-dressed players in the W, and she has seen firsthand how the growth of the game has meant more opportunity and influence. “Women’s basketball is now an important part of pop culture, whereas before, I don’t think we got that recognition,” says Diggins. “People take our slang, people take our trends. People are watching what we’re wearing.”
WNBA fashion is far from homogeneous, with a range of styles represented throughout the sport. Perhaps no other league has its finger more on the pulse of pop culture than the W. “There’s so much diversity and it’s such a spectrum as far as how people dress, how people express themselves in this league,” says Diggins “I do think there’s room for everybody.”
For Diggins’s part, she takes an intentional approach to her outfits, deploying what she calls “method” or “theme” styling. During her stint with Unrivaled’s Lunar Owls earlier this year, she donned looks inspired by the team mascot. Over the last two WNBA seasons, Diggins says she presented a more “business-core” vibe, embellished with metallics and infused with elements of futurism. This year, she says she’s gravitating toward chic, polished high-fashion pieces.
Arike Ogunbowale of the Wings is another name that comes up frequently when discussing the WNBA’s best dressed. She often opts for streetwear-inspired looks, paired with white Nike Air Force 1s. Throughout her seven years in the league, Ogunbowale has seen her style evolve—each year, becoming more comfortable with herself and her fashion choices. “I love just looking at [pictures] in the past, and I kind of just see, like, where I was at the time,” says Ogunbowale. Phoenix’s Kahleah Copper, who describes her style as “versatile and playful,” has seen her fashion sense evolve as well, but one thing has stayed consistent: unpredictability. “I think I’ve always been me. I’ve always been super versatile—men’s clothes, women’s clothes, whatever it is that I feel I never put myself in a box,” says Copper. “I'll always surprise you.”
Over in Los Angeles, Cameron Brink has made a splash for her sartorial choices in her first two years in the league. She offers yet another dimension to the league’s wide array of frocks. “I love a good heel, a miniskirt and a structured jacket,” says Brink. “I love showing off my long legs.” Mary Gonsalves Kinney, one of the stylists Brink works with, says there is a potency to her look: “She can be feminine and sexy and still super powerful.”
Style may be about personal expression, but it can also act as a vessel for marketing, brand-building and sponsorship opportunities. Thanks to a prolific career at UConn, Paige Bueckers is no stranger to balancing the many requisites for basketball stardom. In part because of the outgrowth of NIL, the 23-year-old already earned a reputation as something of a style icon even before entering the WNBA. At the draft in April, the league’s top pick sparkled in a shimmering three-piece suit, custom-made by Coach and covered in 200,000 glass crystals. She’s also garnered a heap of brand deals, including a clever partnership with paint company Sherwin-Williams for her first pro game in her home state of Minnesota. She wore a look in the brand’s color “Radiant Lilac,” designed by Harlem fashion icon Dapper Dan. The campaign was not only evidence of Bueckers’s status as a figure in fashion, but also the cultural ubiquity—and profitability—of the WNBA tunnel walk.
Just as the spectrum of fashion varies across the league, so does the players’ process and approach to getting dressed for games. Ogunbowale keeps it in the family, leaning on her older brother, Texans running back Dare Ogunbowale, for inspiration. “Any outfit I wear, I usually run it by him,” Arike says. “We both have a big love for fashion that came from our mom.” While some players plan outfits weeks in advance, Ogunbowale typically selects her look on game day. Occasionally, she says, she’ll work with stylists for major events, but “80% of the stuff” is Ogunbowale’s choosing, which requires her to have a curated closet at the ready. That’s the fun part, she says: sourcing pieces from a range of price points and finding smaller, unique brands. Copper, meanwhile, prefers a collaborative approach with her stylists, Marc Desir and VNA Gudino. “I tell them to give me the push that I won’t give myself, give me the edge, put me in a pop of color.” What Copper chooses to wear can also be geographically determined, cognizant of the impact an outfit can make in a particular city. “It really depends on where we are. If we go to Connecticut, no shade, I’m not getting dressed [up] in Mohegan Sun [Arena],” says Copper. “I’ll save a favorite [look] for a home game, or New York or L.A.”
Diggins typically puts on her runway-ready outfit just before leaving the house, as she’s usually handling her kids and getting them ready to ride to Climate Pledge Arena with her. It all comes together right before she hits the tunnel, where Diggins is met by photographers, snapping photos that will live on in internet perpetuity. But by the time she reaches the hallway and enters the locker room, the league veteran has quickly traded her runway-worthy threads for her dark green Storm uniform. It’s a strut that can last seconds, but it’s enduring, shaping how the WNBA is viewed and influencing culture, style and the business of fashion.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as WNBA Players Turned Dimly Lit Corridors Into Cutting-Edge Catwalks .