The power and promise of the WNBA tunnel fit

Caitlin Clark in Prada. Angel Reese wearing Dior. Paige Bueckers rocking Dapper Dan. A’ja Wilson in Louis Vuitton. Pregame outfits have come a long way, baby.

It’s all part of nailing the so-called tunnel fit — a reference to the tunnel that leads players to the locker room — which has emerged as a catwalk of sorts for athletes looking to make a sartorial statement before changing into their jerseys and taking the court. “They might act like they don’t care,” retired NBA star Dwyane Wade (no slouch in the style department himself) once said of the pressure on his fellow players to look sharp. “But when they get off the bus, they’re fixing their clothes because they’re about to hit that runway.”

What started as an NBA tradition (think LeBron James in his infamous Thom Browne short suit and alligator skin bag) has already spilled over into the NFL (cue Travis Kelce’s disco chic for the Super Bowl). Now the WNBA is following suit.

As the league grows in popularity — and adds new teams — so has interest in what Caitlin Clark and DiJonai Carrington are wearing on their way into the game. WNBA tunnel fits are all over social media. And while some might find the focus on fashion superficial, women’s sports fans and analysts like Shanteona Keys, a sports reporter and host of the sports and pop culture podcast Genuinely Curious, feel otherwise. She argues that players aren’t just showing off their designer labels and towering heels, they’re expressing their true personalities in a sport that has been unsung for so long.

“A lot of these players were not able to showcase who they were,” Keys tells Yahoo. “The league tried to put them in a box where they had to dress a certain way and present a certain way, typically feminine, to attract the all-American fan. Getting to see who these players are in their regular life, in their streetwear, just adds a level of personality, which I think is valuable in women’s sports in general.”

The WNBA’s record-setting viewership in 2024, fueled by the arrival of high-profile rookies like Clark, Reese and Cameron Brink, has only increased public interest in players’ lives off the court. And fashion is a key part of that.

“Social media mixed with NIL [name, image and likeness laws that allow collegiate players to profit off of their personal brand] has completely revolutionized the game,” Keys explains. “Even 20 years ago, people knew what LeBron [James] was eating for breakfast. … Women athletes didn’t get that level of coverage. Fashion is one of the few things that fills in that gap.”

Dressing for themselves

The current tunnel fits — from Jaylyn Sherrod’s custom-printed denim suit to Napheesa Collier’s ab-baring top paired with baggy black shorts and a Coach bag — hit the three Ds: daring, diverse and designer. They’re also a far cry from the more conservative dress code WNBA players were previously expected to follow.

According to women’s sports researcher Risa Isard, women athletes struggled to express themselves through their dress thanks to league expectations and constraints. (Similarly, NBA players faced pressure to clean up their image and relied on business-casual attire to do so.)

“There was a lot of stigma and fear and some directives on how to present yourself,” Isard tells Yahoo. “That was largely in a way that would be quote-unquote nonthreatening and traditionally feminine.”

Former WNBA star Sue Bird has talked about the evolution of the league’s attire, sharing that early marketing was focused on “pushing the feminine side of players,” herself included. The recently retired Diana Taurasi has also shared that the league’s dress code required athletes to wear slacks, penny loafers and button-ups while on the road.

“You had these young, really athletic women, but they sort of looked like corporate vice presidents in their 30s with their business-casual dress,” says writer and avid basketball fan Summer McDonald. “The rules are loosened 1751900071, but players also seem to take this as a moment and opportunity to express themselves individually through fashion and declare style.”

In the process, players like New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart, who is partial to oversized pieces that mix masculine and feminine elements, are giving fans a chance to know them better.

“What’s so exciting to me about the tunnel fits today is that they do represent such a wide gamut of expression,” Isard says. “They are wholly authentic to each WNBA player, and there is space to be creative.”

Building a brand, one knee-high boot at a time

For a lot of players, WNBA draft night, when teams announce which players will be joining their teams, marks a huge shift, both for their careers and their fashion game. It’s where you’ll see Caitlin Clark stepping out in Prada, not a jersey or sweats, or Paige Bueckers changing from a Coach suit to one by Louis Vuitton. These outfits are a signal that they’re ready for the big leagues — and they’re worth the luxury labels they’re wearing.

That’s largely due to the brand deals the NIL has afforded them, given the lackluster WNBA salaries they’re making. It’s a symbiotic relationship: Establishing their personal brand through fashion (a sexy corset top, designer sneakers, boxy statement suits) helps players build their social media following, which in turn attracts sponsorship deals and brings in the funds to finance these runway-ready looks (and the stylists, makeup artists, nail techs etc.) that come with it.

Veteran players are getting in on the action too. Keys points to players like A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Mitchell and Sabrina Ionescu, who have gone full seasons showing up to games in sweats or a T-shirt with jeans, sans judgment. Each has since hired a stylist within the last few years to lean into the excitement that comes with showing up and out in the tunnel.

Stewart, meanwhile, has become a blueprint for the kind of exposure that making a style investment can bring. In 2023, the power forward teamed up with stylist Courtney Mays. Fashion shoots with Esquire and Women’s Wear Daily soon followed, paving the way for Stewart to score a Met Gala invite this year.

Chicago Sky forward and new Met Gala mainstay Angel Reese — who frequently posts pics of her tunnel fits (Louis Vuitton bags, track suits worn with heels, etc.) for her 5 million Instagram followers to see — landed a Vogue cover in her rookie year. The cover line: “It’s always been both: basketball and fashion.”

“[Players] are now presented with this opportunity or even need to brand themselves through fashion in a way that they didn’t really have to think about before,” says Keys. “Even if you’re not trying to get a fashion brand deal or a partnership, the way that those glossy photos come across on your grid is valuable just to your brand as a women’s athlete, getting people to follow you and wanting to know your story.”

More attention, more scrutiny

The growing attention on the WNBA has ushered in a lot of praise. Michelle Manno, a sociologist, associate provost for community enrichment at Northwestern University and the author of Denied: Women, Sports and the Contradictions of Identity, points out that it can also expose players to more intense scrutiny. Reese has been subjected to critics’ sexualizing her outfits and body, and deactivated her Instagram in response to comments about one New Year’s Eve outfit. Keys adds that a video of her critiquing Clark’s style direction quickly became her most viral WNBA fashion video to date.

“Women are always being judged by their attractiveness, no matter their circumstance or situation,” Manno tells Yahoo. “We expect women athletes to present themselves as equal parts athletic and feminine, which is another way of saying attractive or sexy.”

Right now, the criticism is mostly aimed at the most popular players. “Clark reaches a mass audience, so that requires mass audience expectations,” says Keys. But it’s far outweighed by the larger conversation around her game. “For a lot of women’s sports fans, these conversations about fashion are just an added bonus.”