Caitlin Clark brought luxury branding to the WNBA draft on Monday night in Brooklyn.
The Iowa Hawkeyes star and overall draft pick wore a Prada white double satin shirt and skirt, embroidered rhinestone mesh top, black brushed leather slingback pumps, black Galleria handbag, and acetate sunglasses, with no less than five of the Italian house’s triangle logo plates on display.
She posed in her sunglasses for the orange carpet, before taking them off for the event inside the Brooklyn Academy of Music where she was picked by the Indiana Fever.
“I don’t think Prada has ever fitted an NBA or WNBA player so kinda sleek, kinda special,” she said in a video posted to her Instagram.
Clark wore a similar sport-style jacket when she made a cameo on “Saturday Night LIve” over the weekend, only that one was by Nike. Clark also wore John Hardy’s Carved Chain Stud Earrings and Icon bracelets on Monday night.
Caitlin Clark poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected first overall pick by the Indiana Fever during the 2024 WNBA Draft at Brooklyn Academy of Music on April 15, 2024 in New York City.
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Clark wasn’t the only player to bring fashion game to the 2024 draft.
Louisiana State University Angel Reese, who has embraced the nickname Bayou Barbie with her love of beauty and style, chose a hooded backless dress in silver metallic gown by New York label Bronx and Banco. The seventh overall draft pick by the Chicago Sky tagged her manicurist Angie Aguirre and her celebrity teeth jeweler Essence Martin on her Instagram.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 15: Angel Reese arrives prior to the 2024 WNBA Draft at Brooklyn Academy of Music on April 15, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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Stanford player Cameron Brink, the number two pick by the L.A. Sparks, chose an on-trend black-and-white gown with a high slit, waist cutout and rosette detail on the shoulder.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 15: Cameron Brink arrives prior to the 2024 WNBA Draft at Brooklyn Academy of Music on April 15, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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USC’s Alissa Pili who was the number eight pick for the Minnesota Lynx honored her Alaskan Native and Samoan-American heritage in a black dress with a black dress with a gold tribal print skirt.
“A lot of Indigenous and Polynesian girls don’t get to see that role model and I’m just so blessed to be in the position to be that for them,” she said onstage adding of her look, “I’m representing them with pride, I had to include the tribal in my dress.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 15: Alissa Pili arrives prior to the 2024 WNBA Draft at Brooklyn Academy of Music on April 15, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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The 2024 WNBA draft comes at a time when women’s basketball has reached an all-time high in public interest and popularity. The TV networks carrying the NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament final, won by the University of South Carolina, averaged about 18.7 million viewers and peaked at 24 million viewers combined on ESPN and ABC, marking the first time in history that a women’s NCAA final has drawn a larger audience than a men’s final.
The WNBA’s increasing popularity opens up a new opportunity for fashion brands, which have been dressing NBA players for years who drive trends and debut new designer looks during their tunnel walks.
It also opens up an opportunity for lucrative luxury dealmaking for female players.
LeBron James wore a full Pharrell Williams’ Louis Vuitton men’s look for the opening night of the L.A. Lakers 2023-24 season–a camouflage jacket paired with black pants and sneakers, a green Speedy bag and a briefcase. The NBA legend then appeared in a campaign for the designer’s first collection that dropped in January.
