The NBA is gearing up for its 2023 draft on Thursday at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, and many of the year’s prospective draft picks are getting ready with help from the fashion world.
Top prospective draft picks including G League Ignite’s Scoot Henderson, Villanova’s Cam Whitmore and Overtime Elite twins Amen and Ausar Thompson, among other players, have teamed with brands and designers such as Indochino and Waraire Boswell to create custom suits that will let their personal style shine during one of the most important nights of their careers.
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The NBA draft, like the highly watched NBA tunnel, has become known for its standout fashion moments that give new players the platform to present themselves both on a fashion and sports level to a larger audience.
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“We just wanted to work with Waraire because he’s a tall guy like ourselves,” Amen Thompson said about he and his brother working with Boswell. “He has a lot of experience in the field making suits. He’s made suits for a lot of great people and we thought him and us could have a good vision for the draft-day suit.”
Boswell, who partnered with American Express to work with the Thompson twins, wanted to highlight the players’ individuality and personal style for the draft. The designer explained he took a modern approach to the classic double-breasted silhouette, designing the suits in navy and green. Following the draft, Boswell is also designing versions of the twins’ draft looks that will be available for purchase.
“They are very wise beyond their years in terms of how they communicate and they know exactly what they want, but this was the first time they had anything made custom,” Boswell said. “I was like, it would be dope to do something that has a double-breasted essence, so we put a sketch together and shared it with them and their parents and we synced up fairly easily after I had the initial conversation with them.”
The strategy is similar to Indochino’s, which is working with 11 prospective draft picks this year including Henderson, Whitmore, Gradey Dick, Dereck Lively II and others.
Indochino has long been heavily involved in the sports world, working with athletes for tentpole events for close to a decade. According to the brand’s chief executive officer, Drew Green, Indochino has been dressing prospective NBA draft picks for the last six years. This year is the brand’s biggest draft year to date, he said.
“When you think about inspiring a generation, it’s hard to find young men that do it any better than these NBA draft prospects,” he said. “They work incredibly hard, they’ve got a goal, they’ve got a plan and they’re really putting the work towards their dreams and that’s inspiring. To align ourselves with inspiring young men is a privilege.”
To determine which draft prospects the brand will work with, Indochino works with players for a year on other big events, such as a major basketball game or their graduation, to start building long-term relationships.
Green explained that this type of relationship-building is important for the brand and continues beyond the draft. Green named athletes like Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Phoenix Suns basketball player Chris Paul as examples of individuals the brand has continued to work with throughout their careers.
“We try to establish authentic relationships with [the players] early on, get to know them, follow them and when it’s their big day, we feel like we have an opportunity to really put something special together for them,” Green said. “Not just from an apparel standpoint, but for example with Scoot Henderson, we’re getting involved in his charity and helping other young men get suited up, so we really get behind these young men and their big day.”
Indochino designed a range of looks — from suits to more creative styles — for the 11 players it is working with, aiming for the outfits to help players’ personal style and individuality shine through.
“[The suits] allow them to really express themselves,” Green said. “Express their own individuality and their own personal style. It’s not a suit that they just got off the rack and got altered for the day. It’s a suit they actually created and they took the time to think through what would represent them the best in terms of look and style and, of course, fit.”
Boswell echoed Green’s sentiment, stating that the NBA as a whole has been giving players more opportunities to stand out and express themselves.
“If I’m an individual, I can show you how I express myself with fashion and you couple that with me excelling on the court, it’s just a win-win for everyone,” Boswell said. “It’s a win for the league. It’s a win for these young men. It’s also a win for the brands that participate and make these young men look their absolute best.”