The Stylists Turning the Tunnel Walk Into a Fashion Show.
They've dressed Angel Reese, Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, and so many other high-profile sports superstars. They're the reason tunnel walks are dripping in Dries. And here, they break down what it takes to create those winning looks.
BY EMMA CHILDS
Supermodels have Fashion Month runways. Celebrities have the red carpet. And athletes—they have the tunnel walk.
What was once an unremarkable, dingy stretch from the locker room to the arena has become a concrete catwalk and a beacon of personal style. It's where players flaunt custom couture and head-to-toe designer outfits, while photographers scramble to capture a shot of the looks in the same way they would an A-list actor at an awards show.
Like most expressive fashion movements, pre-game peacocking was born from rebellion. In 2005, NBA commissioner David Stern enforced an infamous “casual business attire” dress code, mandating players wear a jacket and tie for all league activities (even sitting on the bench while injured). While restrictive, the dress code also begot a personal style phenomenon within the league. "It was like, ‘OK, now we got to really dress up and we can't just throw on a sweat suit,” Dwyane Wade said in a 2014 interview about finding his fashion sense as a result of the rule.
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Four-time MVP LeBron James started coordinating with his teammates in Thom Browne, while Kyle Kuzma of the Washington Wizards made headlines for his one-of-a-kind flair, including a Pepto-pink Raf Simons sweater so oversized it swallowed his 6-foot-10 frame. Luxury brands like Prada and Valentino began loaning looks in the hopes a baller would wear one and—fingers crossed—be posted on League Fits, an Instagram account dedicated to tunnel style with over one million followers. The game day grand entrance had become a competitive sport in and of itself, with a viewership of sports fanatics and aspirational dressers alike.
And recently, as women's sports continues to rise and rise, female players are rightfully being recognized for their own standout style moments: The WNBA's Angel Reese appeared in Vogue, while Caitlin Clark is known to roll through the tunnel decked out in Prada and Fendi ‘fits. New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and Seattle Storm’s Skylar Diggins-Smith frequently rack up likes on League Fits alongside the boys. And it’s not just women basketball stars: The National Women's Soccer League players have started dressing to the nines before games, swapping their team-wide uniforms for designer drip when walking to the field.
Behind every one of those looks, is a new wave of stylists helping athletes step up their style game—and making us all want to dress like one in the process. To help understand what goes into a tunnel walk outfit, we spoke to a few of the key players about sports' high fashion moment.
Clients: Kelsey Plum, Cameron Brink, Rae Burrell, Marina Mabrey, and Chelsea Gray
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Clients: Kelsey Plum, Cameron Brink, Rae Burrell, Marina Mabrey, and Chelsea Gray —
How she began styling athletes: I wanted to be a sports agent my whole life, so I did my undergraduate and master’s degrees in sports management. I graduated with my master’s in 2020 and had a job set up, but COVID happened and the program never started.
In September of 2021, a good friend of mine, Jewell Loyd—Kobe [Bryant] called her the Gold Mamba; she's an Olympian, currently plays for the Seattle Storm, and is one of the best—asked me to style her because she liked how I dressed. She offered to pay me, and in my brain, I thought, I could use the extra money. That's literally how [my styling career] started.
I had no clue what I was doing. I asked Jewell, "What do you want? How do we do this? What's the budget? How much money do you want to give me?” I was charging her about $50 an outfit, and she would give me about $2,000 to shop for clothes and tell me to “just go play.”
Everything blossomed from there. Respectfully, I know what the fuck I'm doing now. But I had to learn and wouldn't have unless I got thrown into the fire.
Rae Burrell, Cameron Brink, and Chelsea Gray walking the WNBA tunnels in looks styled by Bordonaro.
The busy schedule of a stylist: It's nonstop. I haven't been home in a month. I started in New York City shopping for Marina Mabrey, and then went to Chicago for her fitting. Then I was in Vegas for two weeks and prepping Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray’s outfits for the upcoming months. I’m in Los Angeles now, working with Cameron Brink and Rae Burrell.
On bonding over basketball with her clients: I played divisional college basketball at Pepperdine University and Long Beach State University. I had some good years and some not-so-good years—I tore out my shoulder and had a few surgeries.
I'm 27 now and haven't played in four years, but I still associate myself with being a hooper girl. Being a women’s basketball player helps my relationships with my clients because I'm able to connect the two worlds of basketball and style.
Even understanding who they are on the court helps with styling them; Marina Mabrey, for example, is cool and chill off the court, but she's a dog on the court—a menace—so I dress her to that vibe.
standout outfit from the season: Kelsey Plum's outfit for the first game of the 2024 season was very special. At the time, Kelsey was going through a divorce. We talked about bringing that into her tunnel walk outfits and decided to go all black and sexy for her first game. Death had a funeral, baby—that was the vibe. The Alexander Wang leather look was our number one option, but it almost didn't happen because it got stuck in transit.
Kelsey's game was on Tuesday. I flew from Las Vegas to Los Angeles at 6:00 a.m. on Monday, but when I landed, I saw the outfit was stuck in transit and had yet to arrive in Vegas. So I rented a car, drove an hour to the Alexander Wang store in Orange County, California, and pulled the entire outfit from the store. I woke early Tuesday morning and drove back to Vegas with the look. When [Plum] put the outfit on, it fit like a glove. We started freaking out because we knew that look was it.
It went viral everywhere. [Outlets like WWD, People, and Page Six covered the outfit, and Plum's Instagram post received over 160,000 likes.] The tunnel outfit getting attention was great, of course, but with what she was going through personally and how it made her feel really good, that was everything to me. And when you look good, you feel good, and you play good—that's just word in the basketball bible.
On the rise of interest in women’s tunnel walks: I feel like I got into [athlete styling] at the perfect time. Two years ago, no one really gave a shit. The money wasn't there—nothing. Now, it's a complete 180. Women's sports, basketball specifically, are starting to pop off, and there's money out there to be made. I'm bringing brand deals to the table for my girls, and that's where the agent part of me comes in. I tell my [clients]: You're hiring me for a reason. What are your goals behind this? Obviously, you want to look good. But as an athlete, you're trying to create a brand for yourself. You're here to set the tone, make a niche, and create special moments that go with who you are. That's how the brands come flocking, which turns into brand deals.
