WNBA Style Sessions, Vol. 2: Golden & IGP Styling
In the second installment of our limited series, we interview some of the WNBA's top stylists to learn about the anatomy of a fit and the rise of high fashion in the women's basketball world.
Welcome to Style Sessions, a limited series that goes in-depth on the world of WNBA fashion. Once a week, we’ll have a different stylist on to discuss how fits come together for some of the biggest names in the league. If you missed the first edition of our series, in which we profiled Sydnee Paige (stylist for Skylar Diggins and Kiki Iriafen) you can take a look here.
An interesting topic that you’ll see discussed frequently within these pieces is the idea of versatility. With so many different types of styles, heights, lengths and inspiration, the canvas is effectively clear for stylists to either experiment or remain true to their client. One way the league is setting trends is by allowing some of their tallest players to step into their comfort from a fashion sense as well. Golden, who runs IGP Styling and works with clients including Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard and Kalani Brown (to name a few), has enjoyed being on the forefront of a quieter style revolution.
This Week’s Featured Stylist: Golden, IGP Styling
Clients include: Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Izzy Harrison, Teaira McCowan
Golden, who runs IGP Styling, was just in the right place in the right time. After graduating college with a bachelor’s degree in fashion merchandising, she figured that she might end up being a brand or product developer. But post-college life had other plans and, on a leap of faith, she decided to be a content creator.
“I actually met my [future WNBA] clients randomly while out in Dallas,” she recalls. “I spoke a little about myself, networked with them and they gave me the opportunity to style them around the 2023 WNBA Playoffs.”
Initially, she started with Teaira McCowan and Kalani Brown who were playing with the Dallas Wings at the time. For a first time stylist, it was a unique challenge as both of her new clients were 6-foot-7. At that height, finding clothes that weren’t custom would be difficult.
“It opened my eyes on how limited their fashion was,” Golden says of her clients options. “I was able to take a step in their shoes and kind of see fashion from a different realm and seeing how limited they were, why a lot of them wore just athleisure and never really stepped into the fashion zone because anything outside of that didn’t really give them comfortability or just the sizes that they need.”
It led to a lot of tailoring, from adjustments to inseams to custom making pants. But over the course of the next three years, something started to change. As taller players started to step into their comfort and be bold in their tunnel fits, brands started to take notice. Now, Golden says, there is more accommodations being made particularly for the tallest players in the league.
From a styling perspective, it also opened up new looks for the players. Instead of accepting half measures or limiting their vision, frontcourt stars specifically have helped lead the way in high fashion, in particular. Much like Sydnee Paige, Golden sees her clients as individuals that have the ability to step onto a runway and immediately catch the attention of the gallery.
“I think it’s going to grow even bigger to where brands are going to want to have models that are 6-foot-7,” she explains. “They’re already tall, they’re already in shape and they have this amazing stature to them for the silhouettes to play off of them.”
After a couple years in the league, Golden started working with other clients including Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard. Both players, she says, are very different with regard to their styles and personalities.
“Fashion can be, in a sense, your brand identity,” she adds. “So what do you want someone to see about you before you have to open your mouth?”
The biggest way to do that, Golden asserts, is in the details. Whether it’s small flourishes that are meaningful to a player or pieces that are regular parts of the rotation, it all matters. Gray’s All-Star game look, in particular, was something that worked with this concept of ‘pressure makes pearls’.
“Allisha is an outerwear girl so keeping that same silhouette of a natural, everyday jacket with her name on the back,” Golden explains, “But again, the details of the pearls and emphasizing what pearls stand for with her.”
Sometimes those looks can include a degree of creative liberty and artistic risk on the side of the players as well as the stylists but things are rarely, if ever, done without both people being on the same page. Ultimately, for Golden, the goal is to tell a story through what her clients are wearing.
Rhyne Howard’s looks can sometimes be reflective of her as a player. Statement making yet comfortable or even relaxed. But the fits also reflect some of the various ways that the blank canvas of W fashion can really open the door to some new combinations and possibilities. There are elements on some looks that lean more towards more masculine styling with detail touches of feminine fashion trends.
It’s that ability to weave between high fashion while still mixing and matching stylistic flourishes that makes the WNBA a potential bridge between the sports world and the more rigidly defined world of designer runways.
“When you watch the WNBA and you watch their tunnels, you’re more so able to be inspired because it is in such reach,” says Golden. “It’s not impossible to obtain these garments and it’s not impossible to execute these looks.”
Over the course of the last couple years, in particular, there’s been a change with how WNBA tunnel fits are perceived. While there is a consistent theme that players in the league are being seen as fashion icons as well as professional basketball players, that duality is still something that’s making it’s way into more high level designer oriented spaces.
Some players that have aspirations of being involved in the fashion world have made it clear that they have a goal of walking on runways with major designers. As attention around the WNBA’s tunnel fits continues, Golden believes that there are future collaborations that can deepen the relationship between the league and a more global audience.
“They’re not just seeing these [players] as just, ‘Okay, they play sports,’” she explains, “They obviously have an influence on their audience about the fashion industry as well. To see this overall change in the past two years is mind boggling but it’s not shocking.”
As different brands get involved, the diversity of player body types allows for more representation of styles, brands and designers. Whether it’s 6-foot-7 Teaira McCowan or 6-foot Allisha Gray, every fit and flourish has some degree of story behind it as well as a call to action for anyone seeing it on their social media pages.
“I think it’s going to open a world of new fashion coming in and a new sense of direction for the women in sports,” Golden says. “And being able to see those opportunities in fashion more than what they possibly think and become bigger than what the tunnel currently is.”
