HOUSTON (AP) 鈥 When Brittney Griner became the first WNBA player to attend the Met Gala in 2023, just months after being released from a Russian prison in a high-profile prisoner swap, she looked effortlessly cool and chic in a custom-made Calvin Klein suit.
Behind the look was , who has dressed some of sports’ biggest stars for more than a decade. Putting together a glamorous gala look for any celebrity is a tall task, but, when working with the unique proportions of professional athletes 鈥 Griner is 6’9” 鈥 the job becomes much more complicated.
Couple that with working under the constraints put forth by Vogue editor Anna Wintour: The Met Gala chair provides a list of designers she envisions the guest in 鈥 then it鈥檚 up to the stylist to put together a look within those parameters.
鈥淚t was a learning experience for me,鈥 Mays said. 鈥淚 had a voice in that world, in a way, but also when Anna says: 鈥業 want you to wear this,鈥 you kind of have to go along with it.鈥
Mays said they chose Calvin Klein to celebrate an American designer and tap into
鈥淎nd also, somebody that was a little bit minimalist and could really execute something that wasn鈥檛 necessarily about the clothes, but really about the homecoming and her journey and the union between she and her wife,鈥 Mays said. They opted for a champagne-colored look for Griner and a white, corseted dress for her wife Cherelle, 鈥渟ort of like a fresh start, a new lease kind of metaphor.鈥
Mays and the team pulled the look together in three weeks, flying to Phoenix once a week for 鈥渓ong and intense鈥 fittings with several tailors. Then Mays tapped Los Angeles shoemaker George Esquivel, who had previously made shoes for NBA stars Kevin Love and DeAndre Jordan, to craft a custom men’s size 18 pair for Griner.
Mays鈥 personal experience as a 6-foot-tall woman has helped her relate to the dressing struggles of many of the athletes she works with.
鈥淚 am a plus-size woman, and so fashion for me has always been sort of bittersweet, but also an opportunity for me to be creative in how I found pieces to wear,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd so, the fact that I鈥檝e been able to work in the sports world, which means I have clients that are 6’9,” ... women that wear size men鈥檚 12 and 13 shoe, I have to really think outside the box.鈥
Athletes at the Met
Over the last few years, more and more athletes have received coveted invites to the annual fundraiser. This year, sports are at the forefront of the gala with as a co-chair, Los Angeles Lakers star as an honorary chair and .
Hamilton was asked Thursday what he鈥檇 be wearing to the gala.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 even know,鈥 he said. 鈥淣ot putting much thought to it.鈥
But he gushed about his work with Wintour.
鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing working with Anna and her team,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a privilege to be able to continue to do stuff with fashion. It鈥檚 fun. But Anna鈥檚 been really understanding. I haven鈥檛 had a lot of time to deal with it a huge amount 鈥 but the work has been in drips over the past like two years already with us, so, yeah, excited for people to see it.鈥
Wintour told 鈥淕ood Morning America鈥 on Friday that she 鈥渟till doesn鈥檛 know what Lewis is wearing鈥 but trusts him.
Monday’s Met Gala kicks off this year’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the accompanying Mays has long pushed for increased representation of athletes, especially those who are Black, in luxury fashion spaces.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that this sort of turns a leaf in the way that fashion respects the Black community, but also just underrepresented people, because you鈥檙e going to see so many people at the Met that are going to champion Black designers,鈥 she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that you see people that you haven鈥檛 seen before. I鈥檓 hoping that it sort of opens up the conversation so that we鈥檙e not having to fight so hard to get approval from the luxury space, that we鈥檙e supposed to be here.鈥
Tunnel fits and basketball style
Though styling Griner was her first experience with the Met Gala, Mays鈥 work has long been a mainstay of professional basketball鈥檚 unofficial runway known as tunnel fits.
NBA players started the trend, arriving at the arena dressed to the nines and being photographed walking through the tunnel to the locker room. In recent years, WNBA stars have followed suit, with their style
Mays, who has styled Love, Jordan and , also has a heavy imprint on WNBA style. She’s dressed the New York Liberty’s , the Connecticut Sun’s and retired star
鈥淲hat she does best is she makes it so that I feel my best in the clothes that I鈥檓 wearing,鈥 Stewart said. 鈥淎nd really, that鈥檚 the biggest thing behind it. Because when you see all these tunnel fits and people walking, you want them to portray who they are and feel their best.鈥
Mays sees her work with WNBA players as a perfect way to showcase her passion for championing diversity and inclusion.
鈥淎s the media starts to lock into tunnel fits and what the girls are wearing, I hope we get to see more of a wider lens cast on some of the style sensibility,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e locked really heavily into women that men think are attractive, if I鈥檓 just being honest, and I hope that we鈥檙e able to see some of the women that are masculine-presenting, some of the women that are dressing more gender-fluid. There鈥檚 such a vast, wide spectrum of different styles, and I think that鈥檚 what鈥檚 so cool about the tunnel fits, is that you see such a diversity and style sensibility.鈥
The 6-foot-4 Charles has worked with Mays since she was taken with the first overall pick in the 2010 draft. Dressing while she was growing up was sometimes tricky but collaborating with Mays has simplified things. She that highlight her height and athletic build.
鈥淪he鈥檚 the one who gave me my confidence in my appearance, and so it鈥檚 been a great partnership,鈥 Charles said. 鈥淚t just goes a long way off the court when I鈥檓 not with her and just how I feel.鈥
Mays is participating in the Met Gala again this year, and says to expect 鈥渁 visual attempt to show that diversity in style when you see women in sports.鈥
鈥淢y ethos has always been how can we converge sport and style in a way that鈥檚 authentic and in a way that feels diverse,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd what was really interesting to me is, with the Met鈥檚 chairpeople, to see two athletes a part of the conversation 鈥 I think that opens the door for other athletes to participate.鈥
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AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg in New York and AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer in Miami contributed to this story.
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For more coverage of the Met Gala, visit
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