Caitlin Clark is finally here. Last night, all eyes were on the arrival of the Indiana Fever’s No.1 draft pick as she made her much anticipated WNBA debut playing in front of a sold-out crowd at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
We are not here to talk about stat lines and box scores, we are here to talk about the first pre-game tunnel fit of one of the most anticipated pro basketball debuts in recent history.
Clark, who is by the way the the first person to be dressed by Prada for a professional basketball draft, donned an all-black outfit comprised of a black tube top, a pair of vintage black denim from Tibi's Spring 2024 collection, along with a "Return to Tiffany" blue-teal mini-handbag that masterfully matched a pair of Tiffany & Co. x Nike Air Force 1.
Caitlin Clark's tunnel fit look, stylish yet minimalist, couldn't be more appropriate for such a moment, all-black top and jeans to signal that it's all about business now. While not revolutionary, swapping out Prada for another luxury household name like Tiffany, carefully matching the handbag with the rare sneakers, and highlighting the accessories against the black monochrome outfit shows the outfit was put together with a tasteful attention to details.
I love the lack of shiny extras or loud accessories that could have distracted from the importance that this generational player, walking into the arena in the most important women's basketball league in the world have for WNBA and women's basketball.
Caitlin Clark almost singlehandedly marked a stark change in the perception of women's basketball. In the past two years, the NCAA's college league, has become widely followed mainly because of Clark. Between 2022 and 2024, the number of people who watched the women's NCAA finals (to which Clark contributed greatly in bringing her college team, the Iowa Hawkeyes, to two consecutive years) quadrupled to a record 18.9 million viewers in the last final.
Her influence is already being seen on the WNBA as well. Just last season the Indiana Fever had been the second-to-last team in the league in attendance, averaging 4,067 in attendance. This year they expect to fill the 17,254 seats at each of their 20 home games.
Sure, women's basketball has wider margins for growth than other sports, especially their male counterpart, but it's Clark's exceptional playing that earned the sport so many new fans and is rapidly changing the status quo of what women's basketball can attract. In the coming months, the WNBA will have to renegotiate the rights to televised games: if Clark delivers what she promises, audiences continue to follow her, and fashion brands truly start to take notice of the new opportunities to dress WNBA players, there could soon be very big changes for U.S. women's basketball.
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