Five Fits With: WNBA Legend Breanna Stewart
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
This week’s subject, Breanna Stewart, is one of the WNBA’s greatest players. At the risk of having this read like a Wikipedia entry, I’ll forgo listing off too many of her accolades, though you might know her from her two WNBA Championships, her subsequent WNBA Finals MVP awards with the Seattle Storm, or her spot on the W25 list of the top 25 players in the league’s history.
In February of 2023, Stewart signed with the New York Liberty, where she’s currently averaging above virtually every high standard she’s set in offensive performance. Just this year, she scored 45 points in a game where she managed not one, but two major milestones: scoring the most points in under 31 minutes played in WNBA history and the second-most all-time points by a home player in their Barclays Center debut, including the Brooklyn Nets.
Off the court, Stewart has developed an abiding interest in clothing and style, which you can see on her Instagram if the five outfits here aren’t enough Stewie content for you. Below, we discuss her style journey, the intersection of men’s and women’s trends, her relationship with Puma (and collaboration in general), and plenty more.
Fit One
Can you remember the first moment you became interested in fashion?
I think it's definitely evolved since I've come into the league. When I was in high school and college, I was interested in fashion, and I look back at those pictures and I’m like, "Whoa, what was I wearing?" But I remember my ESPYs outfit, my WNBA Draft jumpsuit. That jumpsuit is one that I love that I'm like, "Can I wear it again?" It was such a great piece. Really, my evolution of being comfortable in my own skin as a pro helped transform what I'm wearing, and understanding what I like and what's most comfortable to me.
What does personal style mean to you?
It means being comfortable with what I wear. Something that I can have on that can quickly be dressed up or dressed down, and has a little bit of a message to it. It's like, "Yes, Stewie's wearing this," and you understand why, or you understand where I'm going or what are my plans today. But it's changing, being a mom; it's a little bit different.
Fit Two
You’re leading me to the next question—how have you honed or altered your personal style since you started your journey?
My personal style has definitely grown a lot. I feel like in the beginning of my career, it was like, "All right, I'm just going to put on the closest shorts that I see, and the closest T-shirt, and go to practice." Now, it's making sure that I'm looking a bit more presentable, but obviously still comfortable. I want make sure that I'm always looking good. We want to make sure [our daughter] Ruby wears things that she loves and she's comfortable in. And right now, that's Paw Patrol merch. When you're comfortable with what you're wearing, it just brings different sense of confidence and self-esteem.
This column usually features menswear. I'm curious if you see any intersection or relationship between womenswear and WNBA style generally, and the current men's style zeitgeist.
I think there's definitely an overlap, for sure. Oversized stuff—whether it's technically in womenswear or in menswear. I like to wear Issey Miyake a lot, and I think a lot of us in the WNBA try to add that to our closet. But for me, I'm a mixture of both. I think sizing-wise, it's more menswear just for length and long sleeves, anything like that. But having a good combination between fitted and baggy. My tank or my tee might be tight, but then my sweater might be longer. I think it's just the ability to be gender fluid, the ability to have both. When you can wear menswear or womenswear, you can work with a lot more.
Fit Three
Does style play a role in the WNBA?
Style definitely plays a role in the WNBA. Especially after Covid, you've noticed a lot more walking in with the tunnel fits. Maybe a bit in the bubble, too. We had a lot of messaging on our shirts, but not so much dressing that up or down. With tunnel fits, you see people actively working hard to make sure that these fits are good, and it's something that you can wear multiple times. I think that's what I'm going for. When you wear something like my jumpsuit for the draft, it's like, "I want to wear it again, but when and how? Was it an iconic moment?”
I know you just released your first signature sneaker with Puma last year. How do you approach collaborations?
Being able to have a signature shoe in the women's game is something that's a little bit hard to come by, but coming more often these days. It was definitely a bittersweet moment because I was the tenth women's basketball player to have a signature shoe, and the first in 10 years. I was able to share my story and my journey on the shoe, especially the first one that had scars on the back—because I ruptured both my Achilles. So right now, I’m wearing the collection for the water shoe that's about to come out, and it's the ability to have everything that the fan or player or consumer might need, because not all my fans play basketball, but they can still have the shoes in an off-the-court sense, or they can just wear the clothes.
Fit Four
You have an insane list of accolades. How do you continue to improve upon your game?
I try to just continue to get better. I know I've done a lot, but I feel like I'm 28 and I have a long amount of years left in my career, and making sure that each year I'm consistently doing my job and trying to consistently be better. Coming to New York is obviously new for me, coming to a franchise that hasn't won a WNBA championship. That's one of my top goals at the moment—really putting the Liberty on the map. They're one of the first founding franchises to not win a championship. So, kind of need to do that.
Do you have any advice for someone looking to take their career to the next level?
Continue to keep going. Especially for women in the workplace, we're at a little bit of a breaking point where we're getting more opportunities, obviously in sports, but in life, to continue to show people that there's a number of ways that we can be great. There's a number of ways that we can be working moms, or just amazing moms. Don't let anything stop you. The sky's the limit. Sounds corny, but there should be no one stopping us from what we want to do.
Fit Five
As you mentioned, you signed with the New York Liberty at the start of the year. Does this have impact on your off-court style?
Coming to New York, there's definitely a bit more pressure in making sure that you have a style that you're comfortable with and comfortable in. I’m excited to be here, and be around a lot more everything: basketball, events. But I think it goes back to making sure I feel comfortable with what I'm wearing, because if I’m not comfortable, then everybody can see through that pretty quickly. But yeah, pressure's a little bit more heightened here in New York.
What do you think about New York style?
It’s a spectrum, you know? You could go from one end to the other. Definitely lots of black in the nighttime. You can walk down the street and see so many different things.
If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it consist of?
I'm wearing the Issey Miyake pants in black because those are just amazing. Elastic waistband, comfortable. Puma socks, because I think the Puma socks are one of one. I'm going to wear Puma Suedes. Graphic tee, because then I can either have it tucked in or not. Oh, now I'm all over the place. I want to wear a cardigan because I'm into cardigans. Audemars Piguet watch. Marta [Xargay] just got me this Bottega Veneta crossbody. I'll add that to the fit just to make sure I can hold all my things.
You Might Also Like
