From Tunnels to Runways: How Athletes Are Shaping the Future of Fashion
Cameron Goode, Miami Dolphins, in a mohair sweater. (Courtesy)
Sports and fashion are one in the same – an expression of self, an expression of style, an expression of creativity and flow.
The way someone cuffs their pants or braids their hair is just as much a statement as the plays they make on the court. An athlete’s style has become akin to their signature move – a pair of Prada loafers are the new fadeaway or euro-step.
Today, sports and fashion are more than just overlapping industries; they’ve evolved into a cultural ecosystem worth billions of dollars.
Skims, a shapewear and clothing brand co-founded by Kim Kardashian, surpassed a $4 billion dollar valuation in just 4-years, largely thanks to athlete marketing. Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) invested roughly $163 million dollars in the 2024 Paris Olympics, signaling the growing commitment of numerous fashion houses to the world of sport. The first-ever Creative Director of The New York Knicks, Ronnie Feig, is a footwear and clothing designer who co-founded the streetwear label Kith. The two worlds are interlocking seamlessly and rapidly.
But perhaps this has always been the case. Fashion and sports have both always been symbols of hope, social mobility, persistence, and triumph over adversity. Life stories are told on the court, just like they’re told through design, fabric and movement on the runway. And in a world where athletes are the chosen canvas, stylists have become the artists.
What was once a celebrity luxury has become the norm: athletes are working with wardrobe stylists to help craft their image and personal brand. Stylists, or personal shoppers, source exclusive items and curate outfits for red carpets and galas, and most importantly, for games, where fashion becomes part of the performance itself.
Images of athletes arriving to games have become a cultural phenomenon – one that’s inspired social media accounts dedicated to reposting the best in the game. Whether it’s LeagueFits, BlitzFitz, or any number of inspired accounts that have cropped up since their inception, athletes are under constant surveillance, and suddenly everyone seems to care what they’re wearing.
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“These people do have lives outside of playing football. I feel like half the time people don't even know where they live, where they come from, and styling an athlete is allowing me to have them be expressed for who they are, truly,” said Zoe Osborn, a 24-year old wardrobe stylist living and working in Philadelphia, PA.
Osborn styles Kingsley Jonathan, an NFL player for the Buffalo Bills from Lagos, Nigeria. Jonathan was the first player to be posted by the NFL Africa Instagram account in traditional attire, custom made by his mother, who’s a fashion designer.
“To me he didn't care who was watching, who saw it – it was just about being able to show, this is where I'm from, this is home, and I'm proud of that,” said Osborn.
Osborn incorporates pieces from Jonathan’s mother with designer pieces and trending aesthetics. It’s uniquely Kingsley Jonathan, and it can’t be duplicated.
Style is transcending fashion itself and becoming a narrative – one that captures an athlete’s essence in a single, fleeting moment. Fashion becomes a form of self-expression – an opportunity for two people to blend visions and experiences to tell a story in the span of a two-minute walk from the car to the locker room.
“That outfit is them, it's representing their style and their style of play as well,” said Arianna Cunha, a stylist based in Boston, MA, “Some people are a little more flashy, some people are a little more calm.”
Athletes are building their personal identity through their outfits and the Instagram accounts, whether personal or third-party, that document it are becoming an extension of their brand that attracts endorsement deals, sponsorships, and business opportunities.
It’s not a question that a deeply emotional bond exists between fans and their favorite athlete. Athletes symbolize the peak of human achievement. For many, they represent a rise from nothing to something – the result of decades of hard work that can grant you access to an exclusive club of people who’ve managed to realize the maximum of human potential.
In the 90s, everybody wanted to “Be Like Mike”. Today, people still wait in lines for a pair of Jordan’s. The sneaker industry, largely built and fueled by Michael Jordan, is expected to surpass a $100 billion dollar valuation by 2026, according to Statistica.
People care about what a brand represents, today more than ever, and with social media granting fans an all-access pass into the lives of their favorite athletes, individuals have begun to function as brands. People are drawn to personas they can relate to, and to stories that mirror their own. Visually, there’s no clearer way to convey who you are and what you stand for than through fashion.
“I think clothes are a direct expression of who you are. When you look at somebody, you just get an overall vibe for who they are, or who you think they might be, based off how they dress,” said Nic Toomer, a Division I football player at Indiana University, who plans to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft.
When it comes to business, those with the strongest personas and individual brands are granted the greatest rewards.
“Athletes are sitting front row at Jil Sander or Alexander Wang, which is really cool because they've been in the basketball or football scene their entire life, and now they’re able to branch out into another world,” said Jojo Fetterman, a personal shopper and stylist from New York City who’s worked with athletes like Justin Fields and Deebo Samuel.
Justin Fields, QB for the New York Jets. (Courtesy)
Fetterman has styled athletes for games and for Fashion Week, most recently in Milan. Zoe Osborn said her clients get Instagram DMs after posting or appearing in certain outfits. Sometimes those DMs include invites to meet designers one-on-one, this past fall those invites came from Paris Fashion Week.
“When you're really able to express yourself and have a really good taste in fashion, people are going to kind of be drawn to you and you're kind of automatically putting yourself into that community and into that world,” she said, “Now they're looking at it as, ‘Not only am I going to play the game, but I also have an opportunity to branch off into another world.’”
Fashion has become an opportunity to build a career outside of professional sports – it’s a door that’s already been opened and walked through before a player’s career on the court or field even ends. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, an NBA player for the Oklahoma City Thunder, has already established himself as the Creative Director of Converse Basketball.
Victoria Gentile, a stylist from Toronto, ON, who styled Shai’s cousin, NBA player Nickeil Alexander-Walker, says the business aspect of styling athletes can’t be undermined.
Victoria Gentile and musician Burna Bandz, Nickeil Alexander-Walker of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and an outfit styled on Canva for Gentile’s brand page @styledwithvic. (Courtesy)
“I didn't realize how much business plays a role in it, I was just like, ‘Oh, let me just put this outfit together, and hopefully someone will wear it,’” she said.
Still, she maintains that at the heart of it, athletes just want to express themselves as individuals in careers that often prioritize the collective over the personal.
“The whole business side of it, more followers or whatever, it’s great, but I don't think that's the main goal here,” said Gentile, “A lot of players just want to be in stuff that nobody else is in. They want a style that their teammate isn't wearing, they don’t want the same clothes as them. It’s a lot about self expression.”
Cameron Goode, an NFL player for the Miami Dolphins who grew up in Houston, TX, agrees. He said he doesn’t work with a stylist because he takes pride in expressing himself through fashion.
“Everybody has their own taste and you're able to show that. You can also incorporate things that represent where you're from. I've thought about this year, maybe pulling out some cowboy boots for the Texans game,” he said.
Goode said a lot of his inspiration comes from his favorite artists.
“One person I like to take a little style from is Gunna. He’s one of my favorite rappers. I just feel like his style is kind of like a rock star, and obviously I'm not a musician, but I just feel like that rock star persona is just cool,” he said.
It’s no surprise that athletes are inspired by musicians, and vice versa. Nic Toomer, too, says he’s influenced by artists like Lil Yachty and the Concrete Boys Collective.
With the growth of social media, and particularly algorithm driven platforms like Tik Tok, less and less cultural touch points exist. There are fewer points of connection when everyone has a hyper-tailored social media feed with little to no overlap. Mass social stratification is happening in real time, and music and sports are two of the few remaining pillars that can transcend a hyper-individualistic society. In an era where identity is increasingly shaped online, fashion has become a crucial part of the cultural narrative.
If people idolize athletes, they idolize musicians all the same. Both represent achievement, resilience, and creative expression. With that comes an unspoken cool factor that dictates cultural norms, and the two groups feed off of each other.
“Athletes want to present themselves like rock stars and rappers, and rappers want to be athletes,” Toomer said.
Toomer said a lot of his inspiration comes from 90s film aesthetics, particularly Spike Lee films and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
“When I'm dressing, I'm trying to portray like, this is my vibe. I'm an old school vibe, but I also like nice things, so I might have a whole thrifted fit on, but an expensive Louis V bag. It's like, okay, his style is unique, but he still does have nice accents,” he said.
For Toomer, fashion is a way to express both who he is and where he’s headed. It’s a way to stand out in a culture that he says is too dependent on conforming to trends.
“I just think that people should dress how they want to dress. How you dress makes you feel good. It affects how people look at you. It affects how people approach you. It affects the opportunities you get. It affects everything really, like dressing is one of the most important things that you could do,” he said.
Toomer has made fashion his mission beyond what happens on the field. For him, the main goal isn’t the league, it’s using the league as a launching pad for his career as a stylist and designer. He has a clothing brand in the works, one he’s developing with his former teammates at Stanford University.
“I want people to be able to express themselves through their clothing,” he said.
Whether directly or indirectly, athletes have become curators of culture.
“I feel like Alan Iverson has probably had the biggest influence on culture and dressing, like the braided hair, tattoos, the big pants. I feel like he really created a generational aesthetic,” said Toomer.
Athletes may get the credit vis-à-vis the spotlight, but it’s the stylists behind them who are the true architects of aesthetic.
Jojo Fetterman, stylist and personal shopper. (Courtesy)
Stylists are tapped into a world that’s foreign to most of us. Jojo Fetterman knows that Louis Vuitton makes up to a size 64 jacket, and Gucci makes up to a 66 wide pant. This is lucrative information when it comes to dressing a 6’5”, 315 pound lineman.
Katrina Nguyen, a stylist from Boston, MA who works with Derrick White, says that though athlete body types make it harder to source clothing, they give her an ideal canvas to work with.
Derrick White, Boston Celtics, styled by Katrina Nguyen. (Courtesy)
“Athletes are obviously tall, so it kind of looks better with certain pieces that they wear and the outfits that they put together. They're almost like built-in models,” she said.
In a world where athletes are the models, the tunnel has become the runway. With stylists at the helm, NBA games have become fashion shows. Stylists have 82 opportunities to explore, experiment, and expand their canvases.
Athletes are naturally being pushed out of their comfort zones. They’re encouraged to tap into unexplored aspects of who they are.
“I think it's a good opportunity for them to really grow and learn more about themselves,” said Osbon.
Fetterman says that when she first started working with Justin Fields, he was married to sweatsuits and hoodies. Now she has him in black leather jackets and Loewe sets.
“A photographer was there with us in the room when I was styling Justin and they were like, ‘Oh wow, Jojo like, this is amazing, Justin would never wear this if you weren't here,’” she said, “I help people feel better about themselves and branch out with clothing they've never worn before, which is pretty cool.”
Justin Fields, styled by Jojo Fetterman. (Courtesy)
Fetterman works as a personal shopper at Saks Fifth Avenue, which grants her access to exclusive showrooms with highly sought after but limited pieces.
“When something new drops, I'm always probably one of the first people to see it or be able to order it for somebody,” she said, “And then once an athlete wears it, this item will probably already be sold out online or in the store.”
People think it’s their favorite athletes setting the trends, but in reality it’s stylists like Fetterman, working in the backrooms of department stores and spending endless hours scrolling through online marketplaces for the most unique pieces.
And stylists stay on the clock, readily available for clients at all hours of the day. Stylists need to be available both in person and virtually, ready to consult an athlete via FaceTime or overnight an item in the case of an emergency.
“I would go out to Chicago and bring a whole wardrobe for him. I would just bring racks and racks of clothing, shoes, bags and accessories from sunglasses to jewelry – literally everything. I would set up everything on a rack, bring a steamer, bring in a whole fashion kit, and he would put on the outfits and decide which ones he wanted to keep. And it was a very in and out, very 24 hour type fitting,” said Fetterman on working with Justin Fields.
For stylists like Arianna Cunha, the struggle is all part of the art. Styling an athlete isn’t just a job, it’s a chance to explore her own creativity and bring her visions to life. She said styling athletes pushes her to experiment and try new things, as much as it pushes her clients to do so.
“It's really cool to be able to learn different versions of creativity, and to see that you can be creative in simple ways as well. It doesn't always have to be that flashy or mixing different colors and different patterns,” she said.
In a world where every outfit an athlete wears is documented and immortalized on the internet, stylists have become modern day Da Vinci’s, their clients Mona Lisa’s, and the masses replicas.
The tunnel has become the point where art, self expression and culture meet. And this is just the beginning. Jojo Fetterman has begun styling the wives and kids of athletes. The New York Times organized a conference exploring the intersection of sports and fashion ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and NBA player Lebron James are set to host the 2025 Met Gala. Serena and Venus Williams, Victor Wembanyama and Joe Burrow all walked the runway at Vogue World this past June.
For athletes, the cultural impact they’re leaving behind by choosing to wear a particular mohair sweater or Louis Vuitton shoe is largely unintentional. For some, it’s the result of a desire to step out and show out.
“They’re used to competing to win, so when it comes to fashion, standing out becomes their new scoreboard,” said Victoria Gentile.
For others, it’s a reflection of the age old testament – look good, feel good. It’s a chance to set the tone for a game, whatever else flows from that is largely created and flamed by the internet.
“It’s really just about showing up,” said Cameron Goode, “when anyone's looking good, they walk different, talk different.”
Cameron Goode, Miami Dolphins, in custom spray painted hoodie by @sexsdreams. (Courtesy)
