Some people go to Gala for self -promotion. Some go because it is the ultimate game of dressable. But Dwyane Wade, the NBA Hall of Famer, became a game show-guest, brand ambassador and philanthropist, went for something else.
He went for market research.
Look, this week Mr. Take another role in Wade: the guest editor of players, a new magazine of the publishing house of the former French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld, and the first exclusively devoted to athletes and style. Or the style of athletes.
Forget the tunnel walk. Just like with Gala, which was attended this year than ever by more sports celebrities, including the co-chairman and racero driver Lewis Hamilton; The Sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson; The WNBA players Angel Reese, Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart; And the NFL -Quarterback Jalen hurts, players indicate a new stage in the always intertwined relationship of sport and fashion.
Players, a biennial magazine, is the brainchild of Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, the editor -in -chief and the Chief Executive of CR Fashion Book Ltd., who publishes the magazine with namesake Style founded by his mother, Carine.
“At CR we gave an incredible platform to models, singers, to actors,” said Mr. Roitfeld. “But in my opinion, athletes were even more interested in fashion than other celebrities. Actors try to have a more discreet life when they are not on the screen. But for athletes, fashion has always been important when building an identity.”
He felt the chance – not just to make a magazine for fashion people, but for sport fans. Think of it as a haute version of athlete trade cards. That is where Mr. Wade came in.
He is, Mr. Roitfeld said, “someone who really has a voice that speaks to the two industries.” He brought a credibility of sport and fashion credibility.
The first song, which was compiled by Mr. Wade, is dedicated to basketball and contains 10 different cover models – including Cameron Brink, Jalen Green, Spike Lee, Jordan Clarkson, Giorgio Armani and Mr. Wade itself, all in fashion labels such as Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga and fear of God, photographed by names such as Mario Sorrenti, Quil Lemons and Nick Knight.
The goal, Mr Wade said, was to remove athletes from the arena and to the Cultureshere, the better bring their ‘personalities and characters to life’. And it was, he added, around the time.
“You can’t think of fashion without thinking about athletes,” he said, “but it wasn’t always like that. It took a while before the door would open for us.”
In many ways, working on players was the highlight of the work he did since about 2008, when he first started to think that fashion could be useful in his life after basketball. That clothing can be a kind of microphone used for its own purposes.
“Fashion is a place that can help culture ahead,” said Mr. Wade. “There are not many areas in life that have that kind of impact.”
Although he had role models – Pat Riley, Dennis Rodman, all Iverson – the fashion world seemed largely closed to him. “Athletes are very long, and we are very lanky, and nobody wanted to make special clothes for us at that time,” said Mr Wade. “Moreover, it was before social media really blew up, so fashion could not see that someone like me came in with an audience of 40 to 50 million people. They could not see if athletes really helped the modern space or not.” It took him three years to meet Anna Wintour.
Taking the doors down was a lot of work. “We had to sell ourselves,” he said. “We essentially had to write short stories about why we should be in a fashion show.” Hey, my name is Dwyane Wade. I would like to come to the Dsquared2 show. “
It has paid off. Fashion has become part of what Mr. Wade are “Chapter 3.” The transformation really started after killing Trayvon Martin in 2012, when he deliberately wore a hood Like the one who had worn the teenager when he was shot to prove solidarity. It was then Mr. Wade realized that clothing ‘could be larger than just the newest. It could be an explanation with which I could reach many people that I could never have reached before, “he said.
For him, the editing of players was positive about how far things had come and a way to pay in advance to give current players a boost – not to mention a chance to nod to those who came earlier. (The Armani cover was done, for example, in honor of Pat Riley, the president of the Miami Heat, whose preference for Armani suits during his coaching days the image of basketball in the nineties.) Not that Mr. Wade does not think that there is still a way to go.
“I think it would be great for brands to work more with athletes,” said Mr. Wade. “They work together with many other celebrities, and I would like to have more athletes in fashion, not only showing up, but really have a big impact.”
What Mr. Roitfeld concerns, he sees the magazine as a platform that can produce a large number of brand extensions, including “fan vessels” that are produced for various events.
One of the first covers contains players from the New York Liberty. Their photo shoot is reproduced as a Broadsheet and distributed to fans during the opening match of the WNBA season on 17 May; The covers are displayed on the Jumbotron. There are plans for a similar hand -out in coordination with Lacoste during the French Open and in Wimbledon. And plans are already in the making for a special football problem for next year, when the World Cup comes to North America.
Mr. Roitfeld has noticed a difference between working with athletes and working with other celebrities. “We have received thank you notes from players and their teams about how excited and happy they felt the story,” said Mr. Roitfeld. “That doesn’t happen often.”
